Walking Backwards
by Stokely
Summary: **COMPLETE** How Letty and Dom got together... pretty original, definitely not what you expect...
1. Step Back And Watch

'Hey Letty!' Mia yelled from her front yard. Leticia Garcia looked up from her book and stared at the skinny Italian girl running toward her house. She smiled and shut her book, placing it to the side.  
  
'Hey girl, how ya livin?' Letty replied as she sat up in her hammock. She raked a hand threw her chunky ebony waves, her hair fluttering in the breeze a bit. Mia stomped up the porch steps and placed her hands on her hips.  
  
'Not bad. Dom kicked me out of the house so his retarded racer friends could watch a movie.' Mia smiled as she sat next to her friend. Letty smiled. The infamous Dominic Torretto. Letty had known him for a long time, ever since she moved in. And she hated him. Cocky, confident and cool with all the chicks. Letty couldn't stand guys like him. Guys that picked up any girls they wanted and dropped just as easily.  
  
'Well, you wanna sleep here tonight?' Letty said as she began rocking the netted hammock. 'My Papi's out of town for a couple days and I might as well have some company, you know?' Mia's smile grew and she nodded, jumping up and racing back to her house. Letty smirked.  
  
Mia was an enthusiastic 14 year old who had been Letty's first friend when she moved into the hood. Letty was 15, skinny, never wore anything flattering and kept up a tough girl attitude. Sure she had a nice bod, but she never wore any thing to show it off. It was kind of ironic that Mia was her friend. She was beautiful, delicate, the epitome of a girlie girl.  
  
Letty only had a few friends, most of whom were gorgeous and talented. She used them as an excuse to escape her house. Her father was old and tired and while Letty loved him to death, she couldn't stay around the house while her mother treated him like shit. She couldn't watch it, it made her feel sick and empty.  
  
So she would go to Torynn's house or Nikki's. Anywhere. Anywhere she was wanted. Mia always invited her over, but as luck would have it, something always came up and Letty wouldn't be able to go. She wanted to go more than anything. Mia's father sounded so nice, and even if she'd have to put up with Mia's cocky 18-year-old brother, she figured it'd be worth it.  
  
The more she thought about it, the more Letty realized how close she was to Dom. Hell his friends were her friends. His sister was like a sister to her. They both loved cars. They lived only five houses away for fucks sake. He treated her like a kid, which probably pissed her off the most about him. He was too busy with bimbos and hoes to really notice Letty. But she didn't care. The less time she spent with him, the better.  
  
He called her names like 'pest' and 'wannabe' that it pissed her off. She never stood down around him, which just made him angrier. It always ended with them having a bitch fight and Dom chasing Letty away. What a bitch.  
  
Letty snapped out of her trance to notice Mia running back to her house, a grin plastered on her face. Letty smiled back.  
  
'Dad said I could stay over!' she said as she raced back up the blue porch. 'Dom's gonna come get us in the morning and take us to school. Is that cool?' Mia asked raising an eyebrow. She knew how much Letty wasn't really into the idea of hanging with her brother but she figured she'd rather be driven than walk ten blocks to school.  
  
'Sure, whatever. You hungry?' Letty asked standing up. Her mom was out getting high with her druggie friends so it was up to them to cook.  
  
'Hell yeah!' Mia said as she followed Letty into the house and into the kitchen.  
  
'Good. You can make it.' Letty said sticking out her tongue. Mia frowned and threw a pillow at Letty from the couch. 'Okay okay! What's the number for Gabriel's Pizza again?'  
  
************************************************************* 'Oh my god! Colin Farrell is such a hottie!' Mia purred as she took another slice of pizza from the kitchen. Letty laughed as she rolled over on the couch.  
  
'Hell yeah! Wish I could have a ride on that pony!' she said licking her lips. Mia snorted and plunked down in front of the TV as the credits began to roll.  
  
'Hey Lett.'  
  
'Yeah Mi?' Letty said rubbing her eyes. It was 2 AM and tomorrow was a school day. Oh well. Not like she cared about any other class than shop. She could always sleep threw English Lit.  
  
'It just occurred to me. why don't you wear that kind of stuff to school or anywhere?' Letty raised her eyebrows and looked down. She was wearing a black tank top and a pair of baggy plaid pyjama bottoms.  
  
'You want me to go to school in pyjamas? ¡Usted es un pequeño pájaro loco! (You are a crazy lil' bird!)' Letty smirked. She knew Mia didn't know Spanish and she huffed at not knowing what Lett had said.  
  
'Well of course not!' she said as she threw her pizza in the trash, 'I mean why don't you wear something fitted, or revealing?'  
  
'You want me to be a whore or something? I lose respect!' Letty said rolling over so she wasn't facing Mia anymore.  
  
'Yeah right! You'd only have half the male student body drooling over you! I bet even my brother would be sniffin around!' Mia said as she pulled open her sleeping bag.  
  
'Shut up chica. maybe if you paid me a million dollars!' Letty said snuggling into her pillow.  
  
'Whatever.' Mia said, climbing into her sleeping bag. 'We'll see.' She murmured as she drifted to sleep.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
'Letty....LETTY!' Letty's eyes fluttered open as she stared up into two deep brown eyes. She squinted against the sun light.  
  
'Ah, shit Mia, get outta my face.' She said as she rolled over blocking out the sun. Mia let out an audible sigh.  
  
'Lett, it's 8:15, Dom's gonna be here any minute and trust me, he won't wait up.'  
  
Letty grumbled as she pulled back her blanket. So? She thought to herself. What did she care if the big lug wasn't waiting? She'd just walk. She stumbled into the bathroom. And turned on the light. She washed her face and put on some mascara and brushed her hair.  
  
BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ...  
  
Letty heard the doorbell ring and Mia let out a small cry of exasperation. She ran to the door, glaring at Letty for not being ready. Letty felt the warm, humid air rush into her small home as Mia opened the door. But to her surprise the voice that sounded from the door was familiar.  
  
'Letty, get your skinny latino ass out here, girl!' Letty smirked. Vince. She peered around the corner and saw his face. He was smiling, sizing up Mia, as he always did. Sure he was 17 and she was 14 but hey. Vince was still a bit behind in the way of maturity so it all balanced out.  
  
'What are you doing here Vince? Where's my brother?' Mia asked folding her arms over her chest. Vince shrugged.  
  
'Said he had to go in early to talk to the shop instructor. He's back in class today so he needed to get all the info. He sent me instead.' Vince peered over at Letty who was walking casually over to them. 'Damn girl, you ain't going to school looking like that are ya?' he said with a smirk, 'It'll tear your badass bitch rep to pieces.' Letty shot Mia a look of I- told-you-so.  
  
'I just gotta go change.' Letty was about to turn around when Vince grabbed her arm and lifted her up. 'What the fuck Vince? What the hell do you think you're-' Letty was cut off as she was being carried to Vince's car, Mia following them, laughing her ass off.  
  
'PUT ME DOWN YOU OVER SIZED GORILLA!!!' she screamed at the top of her lungs and she was thrown onto Vince's back and then gently placed in the back of his dad's Impala. She crossed her arms as he slammed the door and Mia got in the other side.  
  
'I can't fuckin go in the school dressed like this.' She stated, maintaining her glare at the back of Vince's head. For fucks sake she was still bare foot. She saw Vince smile into the rear view window. 'What are you smiling about fuck face?' His grin widened as he threw a bag into the back next to her. She opened the bag, her eyes wide.  
  
'You like?' he asked as he pulled away from her house. She picked up the red skirt out of the bag.  
  
'What the fuck is this? First you kidnap me in my pyjamas, then you give me these girlie clothes... did you fuckin plan this?!' she yelled. But all she got in response was Vince and Mia exchanging looks and laughing. Letty turned to Mia and glared, 'Traitor.' She stated as she pulled out the white cotton tank.  
  
'Oh come on Lett, you need a change, a new look! We're just giving you a little nudge...'  
  
'And you know you're not gonna go into school in those pansy assed plaid pants so stop pretending like you're gonna chicken out and start changing!' Vince said as they stopped at a light. Letty glared between the two of them and then sighed.  
  
'Fuckin ass.' She muttered as she pulled down her pants. 'And you better not be starin' Vince Cortez or I'll beat the crap outta you!' Vince just laughed in response and continued to drive.  
  
After about ten minutes of god-awful traffic, they pulled into the high school parking lot. Vince and Mia stepped out and heard a squeal. LaTanya was running up to Vince, stopping in front of him and smiling sweetly.  
  
'Hey Vinnie... is Dom riding with you?' she asked in her sugary sweet tone. Vince shook his head and began talking with her. Letty snorted. Girls like LaTanya always approached Vince looking for Dom. The ones who have the IQ power that ranks them in the negatives. Letty shook her head as she opened the car door, getting out and feeling like everyone was watching her.  
  
'Hey Vince!' she said interrupting LaTanya. 'You got anything for my feet?' Vince smiled and looked her up and down. Nice, he thought, very nice. She had on the red pleated skirt that was oh so very short. She also wore a white tank that showed off that she was wearing a black bra. Vince smirked and threw a pair of clunky boots at her feet. They had flames on them. Letty's face actually turned pale and she smiled at him, throwing her small frame on top of him.  
  
'THANK YOU!' she yelled and he chuckled.  
  
'Well I figured you oughtta have at least one thing you wanted to wear.' Letty smiled at this. She'd wanted those boots for as long as she could remember. She was saving up but was no where near what she needed.  
  
'Hey, Vince, aren't you gonna introduce me to yo girl? I'm LaTanya.' She held out her dainty hand to Letty, who just stared at her as if she were stupid.  
  
'Hey Letty come on, we're gonna be late!' Mia yelled as she grabbed they're bags from Vince's trunk. LaTanya's face got this weird look. A look of dawning.  
  
'Leticia Garcia? The dyke?' she said folding her arms, 'What, finally trying to fix your reputation or something?' she said with a smirk. Letty frowned and took a step forward, her hand fisted and ready to belt this hoe one. But Vince moved in the way and grabbed her hands, shaking his head.  
  
'I'll tell Dom, you're looking for him Tanya.' Vince said as he pulled Letty away.  
  
'Just tell him I'ma waiting for him in the cafeteria at lunch.' She hollered back, giving one more look of satisfaction at Letty.  
  
'Let go of me Vince, I'm gonna give that bitch a new nose job!' Letty yelled as she tried to fight her way away from Vince. But it was no use, Vince was 6'1 as opposed to Letty's small frame of 5'6. He hauled her into the hall and literally threw her against a locker pinning her so that she couldn't move.  
  
'Letty, for god sake, just let it go! You know messing that skank up is only gonna get you in more trouble and your mama ain't gonna be happy!'  
  
Letty froze. She remembered that last time she'd gotten into a fight. Dom and Vince had pulled her away before she could scratch the bitch up anymore. Dom had yelled at her that she was psycho and Vince had just shaken his head and left. A teacher called her house and that night her mom had hit her. Hard. She had fallen back, down the stairs and sprained her wrist. But that was what usually happened. The only thing that ever stopped her was her father.  
  
'Fine.' Letty said pushing Vince off of her and crossing her arms over her chest. 'Let's just get to class.'  
  
They walked down the hall, toward the shop garage. Letty was the only girl in the class and the youngest too. She would always be teased or pushed around. Sure Vince looked out for her most of the time. But that didn't stop the occasional teasing.  
  
Vince pushed the door opened and the two walked in. The room was empty, smelled of gas and was already prepped for the days lesson. Letty smiled. The only thing that made her relax was knowing that she was putting something together. Making, not destroying. It made her feel like she had a purpose.  
  
'SHIT!' Vince said all of a sudden and his curse echoed threw the garage. 'Tori has my tool box in her locker!' Letty smiled. The only other girl that knew anything about cars in their school was her friend Torynn Diego. And she always bugged Vince and Dom about letting her work with them. They usually gave in, just because the girl had them wrapped around her finger. Not in a slut way. In a friendly, 'I'm so sweet and funny you have to let me help!' kind of way. She wasn't in shop class cause her parents had a problem with it being unladylike. Didn't stop her after hours though.  
  
'So go get it.' Letty said as she meandered over to the beat up car she was working on with a couple of the other guys and V. Vince nodded and ran back out the door and down the hall outta sight. Letty sighed. She picked up a torque wrench and popped the hood.  
  
'Sure thing Dom, just remember that you're in Vince's group for this class.' Came the voice of Mr. Gellar, the shop teach. Letty turned around and saw Dom and Gellar walk into the garage.  
  
'Yeah, no problem.' Dom replied as he walked in. He looked up and looked straight at Letty, his eyes a bit wide with shock. Letty smirked. And suddenly Dom smiled back, playing it off. He turned to Gellar as the teach handed him a slip of paper and left.  
  
'Hey there Dom.' Letty cooed. She felt a lot more confident for some reason, and leaned on the side of the car. Dom rubbed his stubble chin and walked forward, chuckling in his low baritone voice. Letty's smile disappeared.  
  
'What's so funny?' she said, standing up and placing her hands on her hips. Dom just laughed a little louder.  
  
'Nothin, just you trying to look like a girl, s'all.' He said, mimicking her with his feet shoulder length apart and his hands on his hips. Letty frowned and shook her head, turning around.  
  
'You're such an ass Dom. If you haven't noticed, I AM a girl.' Letty said, her voice dripping with disdain as she bent under the hood. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dom smirk again.  
  
'Yeah, right, I know.' He said, moving forward again. 'So is this my reward for coming back to shop class. You lookin all girlie and shit?' Letty banged her head on the hood of the car. Was he flirting with me? She thought to herself incredulously. He chuckled again at her nervous movement. She simply glared at him, rubbing the back of her head, her wavy hair being pulled up by her hands.  
  
'Go fuck yourself Torretto.' She said under her breath as she dropped the wrench back in the toolbox, wiping her hands on her rag. He laughed again, the bastard laughed. He was pissing Letty off more and more by the minute.  
  
'Whatever, Leticia.' He said in his low voice, as he grabbed his wrench and walked over behind her. She felt his warm breath on her shoulder and came closer to the car. She didn't dare breathe. She felt him inhale and damn was it getting hotter in here. 'Leticia...' he whispered.  
  
'Yeah?' she said in a voice lower than her own.  
  
'Can you get out of my fuckin way?' he said backing away. Letty shook her head.  
  
'Fine.' She said moving and walking over to the door. She heard him laughing behind her but she couldn't look back.  
  
'Leticia, class will be starting soon.' Gellar called after her as she walked out of the garage. She felt so embarrassed, that son of a bitch Dom had played her and she hated him! Fuck, he hated her! He just did it to make her mad. Calm down, Letty told herself. She walked slowly down the hall and saw her crew standing in the middle of the hallway with Vince and Edwin, talking.  
  
'Vince you ass, what's takin' you so god damned long!' Letty yelled. If he'd been there Dom wouldn't have been that cruel. Vince usually kept him in check. Vince shrugged, his metal box in his hand.  
  
'Girl, you lookin' HOT!' Nikki said as she slammed her locker closed. Mia smiled.  
  
'Told you.'  
  
'Shut up Mia.'  
  
'Yo, I'ma be late for History, I gotta jet!' Torynn said as she picked up her books. 'Later boys.' She said kissing Edwin on the cheek and patting Vince on the shoulder. Her blonde hair swayed as she walked past Letty, giving her a wink. Let smiled back and nodded to Vince and Edwin.  
  
'We're gonna be late too! Hurry yo asses up!'  
  
'Okay Okay! Jeez Letty ever thought of trying out as the Ice Queen in the school play?' Edwin joked as he followed her down the hall.  
  
'You did not just say that.' Letty said glaring at him.  
  
'Wanna bet?'  
  
'Sure... I bet I could knock four a your teeth out if you said that.'  
  
'Said what?' 


	2. Different Kind of Thing

Letty tipped her chair back, watching the clock. It was 2:30 and class would be ending in ten minutes. She observed the rest of her English Lit class as they scribbled down notes off the board. She sighed.  
  
That morning she HAD received an awful lot of inviting glances from the male student body. And for once in her life, she hadn't beaten the shit out of the guys who flirted with her. So this is what it's like on the other side. She thought to herself. Not as bad as she thought it would be. She even had a date set with one of the foxiest guys in school, Shawn Remirez. Damn that boy was fine. He had always been nice to her before, being her partner in class and shit, but today he told her that he had wanted to ask her out for a while. Quite a few girls threw her hateful looks as she stuttered out her acceptance. His friend Ray Huntly had decided to ask Mia to make it a double date, taking a bit of stress of Letty.  
  
'Alright, for homework, I want a two page essay on the effects of Media Violence on younger viewers and their sentimentality toward real life tragedies. Class dismissed.' Miss Yates said as she stacked their tests on her desk. Everyone grabbed their bags in a desperate attempt to get out of the room.  
  
'Miss Garcia.' Letty froze and turned to face her teacher. 'I just finished marking the class' last assignment. You did exceptionally well. Have you thought of applying for that scholarship for Holy Trinity?' Letty frowned. Yates smiled.  
  
'The catholic private prep school?' Letty said almost in disgust.  
  
'I'll take that as a no. Listen if you want to, you can come to see me anytime and we can work on something together. You've got a lot of talent!' She said as she zipped up her suitcase.  
  
'Okay.' Letty said, blowing the proposition off in her mind. Who cares about a scholarship? She thought as she walked out of the room, scanning the halls for any sign of Mia or Vince. She suddenly felt something big bump into her back and she nearly fell forward. She began to fall, when she felt to large muscled arms wrap around her and pull her back up. She looked up into a large grin and a set of deep brown eyes.  
  
'Wow, two run ins in one day. Must be my lucky day, huh Let?' Dominic said, not releasing her from his arms. Letty suddenly noticed she was gaping at him and quickly shut her mouth, pushing him away from her.  
  
'More like my UNlucky day.' She replied, picking her bag up off the ground. 'You seen Vince or Mia?' Dom leaned against the wall and shook his head.  
  
'They left five minutes ago.'  
  
'WHAT?!?' Letty yelled, dropping her bag again. Shit. Vince told her after shop he'd give her a fuckin ride home. And she didn't feel like walking. She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. This had to be one of the worst days of her life. Crappy as hell and she felt so tired. She heard Dom sigh.  
  
'You want a ride?' he said in a low tone. She looked back at him. He wasn't smirking or laughing at her. He seemed sincere and he crossed his arms, leaning against a locker. 'Well?' he repeated.  
  
'Sure.' Letty replied picking her bag up again. She followed him down the hall toward the parking lot. 'You don't have to you know.' She said, feeling her cheeks burn a bit as he smiled at her, not his usual sneer or mocking expression. It was just a smile. A natural smile.  
  
'It's no problem. I got no plans so I might as well have company on the way home.' Letty smiled. She remembered saying something similar to Mia.  
  
'I know what you mean.' She said softly. He looked as though he was about to reply when Letty heard her name being shouted down the hall. She whipped around to see Shawn jogging after her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Dom frown.  
  
'Letty!' he said as he finally stopped in front of her, 'Glad I caught you chica. So when are we goin' for that movie?' he said smiling at her. She felt her cheeks flush as she shrugged shyly.  
  
'Um...we could go tomorrow after school I guess.' She said looking up at him with a timid smile. He grinned at her and nodded. He then lifted her chin up a bit.  
  
'You're beautiful when you smile.' He said before leaning down and giving her a quick peck on the lips and jogging back down the hall toward the gym. Letty just felt her cheeks burning and stared after him, she wouldn't have been surprised if she looked like a complete freak, her mouth open a bit. She then turned back to Dom and walked past him toward the lot, him closely behind.  
  
'So, you and Remirez huh?' he said as they climbed into his dad's truck. Letty shrugged.  
  
'He asked me out today... we're not actually official yet.' She said staring out of the passenger window, smiling. Dom snorted as he put his key in the ignition.  
  
'That kiss looked pretty official to me.' He said as they pulled out onto the road. Letty grinned cat like and settled back in her seat, stretching out.  
  
'Torretto, if I didn't know you better, I'd swear you were jealous!' she said smirking at him. He let out a small laugh.  
  
'Yeah right. Of what? So the pretty boy gets a new pest to bother him. Means I get a break right?' he said as they turned into traffic. Letty glared at him.  
  
'At least he has taste in women.' She said as she returned her sights to the sidewalk. She heard Dom snort again.  
  
'What is that supposed to mean?' he said as they drove into gridlock.  
  
'Oh nothing. Just that he doesn't just take whatever excuse of a piece of ass walks up to him. Like some desperate pimp.' She said remaining calm but she could tell that Dom was getting irritated by the way he was rubbing the back of his head.  
  
'Sure. Instead, his gay ass picks the closest thing to a guy, just with a uterus.' He said, his voice carrying a certain edge to it. Letty felt like she could smack him right there and then.  
  
'Fine. Since you're so opposed to being in my presence why don't I just walk from here? It'll take less time anyway. Not like you could ever properly drive a car anyway.' She threw open the door and grabbed her backpack.  
  
'Fine. Walk. Don't expect me to offer again!' he yelled after her as she slammed the door and walked over to the sidewalk. She threw him one last dirty glare as she walked down the side of the road. UGH! She couldn't stand him! One minute he was being an ass. Next he seemed all right. Then it was back to being a jerk. Letty just couldn't stand him pansy assed mood swings.  
  
She quickened her pace as she realized Dom's truck keeping up along side her. She looked everywhere but at him and turned into her short cut, where no cars could go. She kicked a stone down the road. Damn him with his cocky attitude and his nice eyes. Not to mention his bitchin bod. Letty smacked herself. Bitchin Bod?!? Since when did she think those things about Dom? He was annoying and she hated him. She chanted this over and over until she got to her street. She saw Dom pull up to his house as she marched up her porch steps. He's just another guy, she told herself as she entered her home.  
  
**********************************************************  
  
'Letty, chikita, its only for a couple mo days than planned!' her father cooed on the other end of the phone. Letty sighed. Great. Alone for another week. He had already told her mother and she was probably gonna make herself scarce until Letty's Papi came home.  
  
'Okay. It's just... It's lonely, ya know.' She said, trying to guilt her father into coming home early. She heard him sigh.  
  
'I know Leticia but I gotta get this done.' He said softly. Now Letty felt bad, for making him feel guilty. He was doing what he had to after all.  
  
'I know.' She said just above a whisper. He sighed again.  
  
'I'ma gonna call Mr. Torretto. He's always calling, askin fo you to sleep over with his kid. Might as well stay there, since your mama...' he trailed off. There was an awkward silence but Letty smiled.  
  
'Thanks Papi.' She said lovingly. She heard a small chuckle.  
  
'Anything for my little girl. And anytime you feel alone, just hold onto my tags and I'll think of you.' He said before saying good-bye and hanging up. Letty smiled into her pillow. She wouldn't have to be alone anymore. She lay there for what seemed like forever, thinking about her father.  
  
BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ  
  
Letty sat up on her bed, frowning and rubbing her eyes. She looked at her alarm clock. It was nine thirty at night. Who could be calling on her now? She hobbled down the rickety stairs and shuffled over to the door.  
  
She opened it and felt her mouth drop open a little bit.  
  
It was Dom.  
  
'Dominic.' She said, shocked into using his full name. It was odd how it rolled off her latino tongue. He nodded and smiled, the same smile he'd given her after he'd offered her a ride. The genuine Torretto smile.  
  
'Well, you gonna invite me in, or do you hold grudges?' he asked still smiling. Letty looked back into her house. It was a mess, but she stepped to the side, allowing him to enter.  
  
'What are you doing here Dom?' she said, trying to mainstain an icy tone as she walked toward her kitchen at the back of the house. Letty heard his footsteps behind him and knew he was following.  
  
'Well, I figured I'd get a head start on my apology since we're gonna be livin' together for the week.' He said taking a seat at her kitchen table. She grabbed her water bottle off the counter and turned to face him, leaning against the counter.  
  
'I don't have to stay with you guys you know. I... I don't want to be a bother.' She said taking a small swig of her water. Dom smiled again and Letty felt her knees become a little weak. Fuck girl, pull it together!  
  
'You won't be a bother Letty.' He said softly. 'Besides, what are you going to do? Stay here alone all week? Or maybe get beaten up by that sorry excuse of a mother of yours?' If Dom had one sore spot for Letty, it was the fact that her mother was a drunken bundle of erratic nerves. She usually only emotionally attacked Letty, but on the rare occasion that she had raised her hand to the girl, Dom had nearly exploded. Sure he made fun of Letty, but he always made sure she was never actually injured or in real trouble.  
  
'I'll be okay Dom. She doesn't usually come around...'  
  
'No. No fuckin' way am I letting you stay here with her alone.' He stated, and his eyes were dark, his jaw clenched. Letty smiled a sad smile and nodded. They sat in silence for a few moments...  
  
'Dom?'  
  
'Yeah Letty?'  
  
'Why do you always rag on me?' she asked sipping her water. He shrugged.  
  
'I dunno. I just do... pest.' He added just for good measure, though it was accompanied by a smirk. She smiled back.  
  
'Fuck face.' She retorted.  
  
'Ouch Letty. Ouch.' He grabbed his chest as if he were wounded. 'Now go get some shit. You're not coming back here unless you really can't help it.'  
  
******************************************************************  
  
Letty rushed upstairs and into her room. The first thing she grabbed was the picture frame by her bed. She stared at it for a few moments. It was a picture of her mother, and father, before she'd been born. They looked so happy. Which was rare for them now. She sighed and threw it on the bed. She grabbed her duffel bag and began to stuff her clothes into it. But suddenly she felt a strong grip on her wrist and she whipped around to be only inches away from Dom's face.  
  
'No.' he said shortly and she frowned, not understanding, 'I want you to wear some of Mia's clothes this week. She was right about you needing to change your look. And you look so beautiful when you wear them.' Letty felt a lump in her throat suddenly appear. She just looked down and nodded. It was the least she could do, since they were letting her stay... even if she would prefer wearing her own clothes.  
  
She just grabbed a sweater and her pyjamas, her clock and her father's dog tags and was ready to go.  
  
'Okay.' She announced. 'Let's go.' He nodded to her and she followed him out of the house. After locking it all up she breathed heavily. That was that. She looked up to face Dom, who looked strangely... sympathetic.  
  
'I don't need your pity Dom.' She said, managing a half glare at him as she walked down the stairs and opened the gate.  
  
'What'd I say?' he said as he closed the gate behind him.  
  
'Well you didn't say sorry... wasn't that why you supposedly came over?' she said, not turning to face him as they walked down the street toward the Torretto house. She heard him heave an almost exaggerated sigh. She smiled. She liked getting under his skin, it made her feel as though she had power.  
  
'Let... you know I don't mean to go off on you... it's just sometimes you're so... so...'  
  
'Right?' she put in with a grin. He rolled his eyes.  
  
'Annoying. Like just now. And you know, I don't deal well with annoying little girls.'  
  
Letty huffed at his statement and glared at him threw the corner of her eye.  
  
'Excuse ME Dom. But I'm not a 'little girl' anymore. I'm turning sixteen in a month and I've been thrown more shit than you know. So instead of making me feel worse about myself, why don't you try apologizing? Or does that word have too many syllables for you to sound it out?' Letty said in a stiff voice. Where did this fool get off?  
  
Another heavy sigh. 'Letty I'm sorry okay! I'm just not good at this kind of thing! Anybody else who talks like you do to me I usually just either punch or ignore!' he said waving his hands around as they neared his house. Letty raised an eyebrow.  
  
'So how am I different?' she said slowly, quietly, sadly. Dom shook his head.  
  
'I dunno. You just are. You're different.' He said as he unlocked the door to his white house. But then he paused.  
  
'What?' Letty asked, hiking up her duffel bag on her shoulder. He smiled.  
  
'Not different. Special. You're special.' He said as he pushed the door open and walked inside. Letty stood outside, staring at the doorframe, shock washing over her. Then she smiled. Maybe Dom wasn't such an ass after all. 


	3. Saving Face

I take it back, Letty thought to herself, he is the biggest ass in the entire county! Letty sat cross-legged in front of the TV, squeezing a pillow unconsciously. Mia looked concernedly from the couch.  
  
'Letty... I don't mean to interrupt girl, but if you don't stop squeezing, you're not gonna have anymore pillow left.' She said sitting up. Letty sighed and threw the pillow to her side, lying back. 'So now that you've mutilated a perfectly innocent and helpless pillow, you gonna tell me what's buggin you?'  
  
'You even have to ask?' Letty retorted, sounding bitchier than she meant to. Mia sighed.  
  
'Listen Letty, I know my brother is a lot to deal with, and yes, he is a jerk, but you shouldn't get all worked up over him.' Mia said sliding down on the floor next to Letty. She sighed.  
  
'I know. I know you're right!' she said making fists with her hands, 'It's just... he treats me like such a kid!' she practically yelled. 'The other day he kicked me outta the garage because his friends wanted to smoke up in there.'  
  
'Yeah, and...' Mia urged her on.  
  
'Well, you know, I said I wasn't gonna be any bother, and then he called me a 'brat' and a 'bitch' and literally picked me up and threw me on that couch.' She shut her eyes tightly, envisioning what it would be like to beat the crap out of Dom. 'I swear he's insufferable!'  
  
'Yeah well, be happy you didn't have to live with him all your life.' Mia said smoothing back her perfectly straight hair. Letty stared at her, finally realizing that she was dressed in nice clothes. 'So tonight's the big night huh?'  
  
'What?' Letty said snapping out of her mental Dom bashing session.  
  
'Your date! With Shawn? Oh god, don't tell me you forgot!'  
  
'Okay, I won't say anything then...'  
  
'Letty you smart ass, your date starts at six and you're not even getting ready?!?!'  
  
'Mi, the date's not for another 2 hours!!! Calm your Italian ass down!' Letty said standing up. Mia followed suit and followed her friend upstairs. Letty pushed open the door to Dom's room and threw herself onto his bed, smirking.  
  
No wonder Dom was being a bitch. His father had made him give up his room to Letty for the week. Though Dom had pleaded (an excellent spectators sport, in Letty's opinion) he had given up and was sleeping on the couch in the living room.  
  
'Letty, what are you gonna wear? How are you gonna do your hair? What about your make up?' Mia kept throwing questions at her. Letty sighed.  
  
'I figured you could do all that FOR me.' Letty said cautiously. Sometimes Mia saw her as an over sized Barbie and just loved dressing her and all that shit. Mia's face immediately perked up and she grabbed Letty and hugged her. 'Hey! Hey! Let go a me!'  
  
'Thank you thank you thank you!' Mia said as she ran like a mad woman back to her room. Letty immediately regretted saying that sentence. She sighed and shook her head.  
  
'What's wrong with you?' she looked up and saw Dom walk into the room. Her mouth nearly dropped open. He wasn't wearing a shirt and his skin was slick and shone by the light streaming threw the blinds. His well-muscled arms and chest seemed to clench and unclench, making Letty forget everything but her own name. 'Earth to Letty?'  
  
'Why do you care?' she said rolling over and away from him. So he had a godly body. She was still pissed at him. She heard him walk over to the bed. She felt his shadow over her body and she would have liked nothing better than to kick him away.  
  
'Can you take a fucking hint?' she said rolling back towards him, 'FUCK OFF!' she said staring at him with the most nonchalant face that she could muster. He smiled, or rather grinned evilly as he brought his hand down to her face.  
  
'EWWW! DOM YOU FUCKING BASTARD!' she screamed, as he smeared oil across her cheeks. He practically cackled as she chased him out of the room. 'You son of a bitch! You know I have a date in a couple hours!' She screamed at him as he reached the stairs. He merely chuckled.  
  
'Oh come on, you know he'll love you, you lil grease monkey.' He said teasingly. She glared daggers at him as she threw him a shirt from his dresser.  
  
'Put some clothes on dammit! No one wants to see that shit!' she said pointing to his bare chest as he caught the shirt. He smirked.  
  
'Your mouth says no no, but your eyes say something different.' He said clambering down the stairs. Letty let out a high-pitched scream of frustration. She walked back into his room and washed her face, again mentally killing Dom with her bare hands.  
  
'Letty, girl, I found the most slammin outfit for you!' Mia said as she rushed into the bathroom. She stopped suddenly and washed as Letty washed her face. 'What are you doing?'  
  
'Dom smeared oil on my face.'  
  
'That jerk. Don't worry, some make up and you'll look fine!' Mia said, smiling, pulling Letty into Dom's room. 'Stop squirming and put this on!'  
  
'Mia, I'm already wearing underwear!'  
  
'No stupid, that's your top!'  
  
'...oh HELLS NO! Mi I can't wear this!'  
  
'Do I have to hold you down, because Dom's been helping me train for track season...'  
  
'MIA! Don't you dare fuckin touch me! I am not wearing this!'  
  
********************************************************** 'Oh Letty you look so hot!' Mia said standing back to admire her work. Letty stood wearing a very, VERY short jean skirt, a pair of leather boots (Mia wouldn't let her wear her flame clad ones) and a brown halter that showed off her softly curved back. Her make up had a certain bronze theme and her hair was done up in a loose up do with tiny gems set in various places. Mia marveled at her masterpiece. Letty resembled a six year old who'd been cheated out of dessert.  
  
'Mi, I cannot wear this in public!'  
  
'Sure you can! God, Shawn will never know what hit him!' Mia said clapping her hands together. They heard someone snort out in the hall.  
  
'You got that right Mi.' they heard Dom say from the stairs, 'My bet is he won't stick out the date for more than ten minutes!' he chuckled as they heard him walk down the stairs. Letty looked livid, ready to kill.  
  
'Down girl, you can attack him when you get home! I am not gonna let you mess up your hair before Shawn sees you!' Mia said stepping between Letty and the door. Letty let out a small sigh and passed Mia, walking out into the hall.  
  
'Look Dom, I want you to drive them to the movies.' They heard Mr. Torretto say from the kitchen.  
  
'But pop, I was gonna go over to Vince's and work on the engine we're putting together for shop!' Dom said in a loud, but not yelling voice. Letty snickered.  
  
'Well, Vince's house is in that area.'  
  
'But pop...'  
  
'Just do it Dominic!' Tony said slamming his paper onto the desk just as Mia and Letty entered.  
  
'So Dom, or should I call you Chauffeur Dom?' Mia said, rubbing it in his face.  
  
'Listen Mi, if you don't...' he trailed off as he looked up and saw Letty. His eyes skimmed over her, up her legs, over her body, up at her face. Letty, for some reason, felt her cheeks flush at his slow eyes traveling over her body. He licked his lips, involuntarily of course and Letty couldn't take anymore.  
  
'What Dom? You act like you've never seen a woman before... oh but I guess spending all that time with those skanks at school...' Letty said coolly. A lot more coolly than she actually felt. Dom seemed to regain some of his composure and smile back.  
  
'Letty. Wow. I never thought it would be possible for you to look so... feminine. I guess miracles do happen and all that shit.' He said. Letty felt like attacking him again, but Mr. Torretto coughed and gave Dom a little look saying Drop-It.  
  
'Hadn't you girls better get going?' Tony said leaning back, staring at the paper. 'Dom will take you to the movies, right Dominic.' He said giving a final side long look at his son. Dom shrugged, looking defeated.  
  
'Yeah, whatever.'  
  
'And he'll pick you up at ten thirty.' Tony said without looking up. Dom did a sort of double take.  
  
'WHAT?!?!' he said, apparently alarmed.  
  
'Mr. Torretto, it's okay really! My...my mom can give us a ride.' Letty said quickly. 'But she doesn't get off work until around twelve...'  
  
Tony looked as if he saw right threw Letty's statement. Firstly her mom didn't have a job. Secondly, she would never pick them up. Thirdly, he knew Letty only said this to try and further their curfew. But he hid his understanding with a shrug.  
  
'Alright. Dom just drop them off.' He said. Dom looked uncertain. Again, his mistrust of Letty's mother was coming into play, and Letty prayed that he wouldn't try and argue. Just in case, Letty grabbed Mia's hand and pulled her toward the door and outside, walking briskly toward Dom's truck.  
  
'Score one for us!' Mia said, happy that they'd gotten away with their lie. 'But how ARE we gonna get home?' she said now looking a little worried.  
  
'Shawn drives. He'll drop us at my house and we can walk back here.' Letty said as they stood waiting for Dom. Mia's features took on a nervous worried look.  
  
'But Letty. He only got his license a week ago. I dunno if I feel comfortab- '  
  
'Listen do you wanna go home at ten thirty and be seen as some little baby? Cause I'm not really down with that Mi! And Shawn can drive fine!' Letty said as Dom opened the door to the house and ambled down the front steps.  
  
'Okay...' Mia murmured as Dom unlocked the car doors. Mia climbed in the back while Letty climbed into the front.  
  
'So, your mom's gonna give you a ride?' Dom said, his voice toneless and unbelieving.  
  
'Sure, why?' Letty said trying no to get into the conversation.  
  
'Stop trying to bullshit me Letty, your mom doesn't work and she's probably too hyped up right now to even know if she owns a car, let alone drive one.' Dom said glaring at her as they stopped at a set of lights.  
  
'Listen Dom, what's it to you how we get home, as long as we do and on time.' She shot back, not making eye contact with him.  
  
'Well for one, it's my sister who's hanging with you.' He said as they passed the school.  
  
'She can take care of herself Dom. She's not a baby.' Letty said, wishing they would just pull up to the theater right now.  
  
'Well not everyone can be as big a tough ass as you Letty.' He said, starting to sound angry. Finally the theater was coming into view. 'I'm coming to get you two at ten thirty.' He said finally as they pulled up to the entrance.  
  
'Have fun waiting then.' Letty said as she opened her car door. She suddenly felt a hand wrap around her wrist. She turned to meet Dom face to face and he definitely looked pissed.  
  
'You are gonna be there or else.' He said not letting go. Letty glared at him.  
  
'Or else what Dom? You don't own me! Hell I'd rather walk home than drive around with baby sitter Torretto! Now let go off me!' she said tearing her hand away from his. He simply glared back and then turned back to Mia who was just staring between the two as if she were afraid a brawl would break out in the car.  
  
'Mia, you be ready at ten thirty.' He said firmly and Mia merely gave a small nod and got out of the car. Letty slammed the door and stalked away following Mia up the steps to the theater.  
  
'You're not actually gonna stay here until twelve are you?' Mia asked, finally breaking out of her silent state. Letty looked at her quizzically.  
  
'You're not?' she said surprised.  
  
'Well, you heard Dom, Letty, and he may not scare you, but I still have to live with him after the end of next week. And he's only looking out for us.'  
  
'He only wants to boss us around, trying to look like tough shit. You can leave at ten thirty if you really want Mi, but I'm gonna stay. No lame ass is gonna tell me what to do.' She said leaning against the entrance wall.  
  
'He just cares about you Letty. He doesn't wanna see you get hurt, that's all.' Mia said smiling timidly. Letty sighed.  
  
'I know. I just hate how he does it.' She said quietly.  
  
'Hey girls.' They turned to see Shawn and Ray, looking at the idly. 'Damn but you chicas do look fine.' Ray said taking Mia's hand. Mia blushed and followed him to the teller. Shawn moved in close to Letty.  
  
'You look beautiful tonight.' He said taking her hand. She felt herself go red and smiled.  
  
'Thanks. So what are we gonna see?'  
  
*******************************************************************  
  
'That movie was lame!' Ray said as he kicked an empty bucket of popcorn down the stairs in front of the theater. The four of them were milling around the entrance of the theater, the sun already set and the stars shining meekly against the glow of the city.  
  
'Seriously man. So you ladies wanna hit downtown?' Shawn said walking up to a red El Camino that Letty assumed was his.  
  
'Ah, no can do man, I gotta get home, my mama's having a party an I'm already late.' Ray said raising his hands.  
  
'My brother should be here any minute, so...' Mia said shrugging.  
  
'Letty girl, you in?' Shawn said smiling as he opened the driver's door. Letty smiled.  
  
'You know it boy.' She said sauntering up to the car, but was quickly grabbed by Mia and dragged to the curb.  
  
'Are you insane? My brother will go off the wall!' Mia whispered furiously. Letty shrugged.  
  
'What do I care. I'm just having fun. Tell him not to wait up.' She said as she went back to the car, opening the passenger door. She smiled as Shawn backed up and pulled away into the street. She watched Mia in the side mirror, as the Torretto truck pulled up to the curb. She smiled. At least she knew Mia was getting home okay.  
  
'So Letty, babe, anything in particular you wanna do?' Shawn said smiling. Letty turned to answer and noticed the bottle of schnops he was holding to his lips. She shook herself and shrugged. So the guy is drinking a little. Whatever.  
  
'Nah, what about you?' she said as she watched him wipe his lips with the back of his hand. Years of her mother's drinking problem had made her wary of drinkers but she figured Shawn was cool enough.  
  
'Well there is this really beautiful place, if you wanna go see.' He said smiling at her. She smiled back. What the hell? Might as well.  
  
'Sure.' She said, settling back in the passenger seat, watching the passing sites. It was so peaceful in the car that she had nodded off.  
  
It was weird but for some reason, one thing stuck in her head as she drifted threw a peaceful sleep. He just cares about you Letty. He doesn't wanna see you get hurt... Letty smiled as the vision of Dom smiling filled her head. She dreamed of him taking her to the beach. The nice warm beach breeze drifting over them as they laid in the sand and talked. But then Letty realized that the warm beach breeze smelled of alcohol.  
  
Letty's eyes fluttered open as she felt something hot and wet land on her lips. She was staring up at Shawn, who was leaning over her, kissing her clumsily, his hands rubbing up and down her legs. She was so shocked she didn't move. Then when his hands drifted up to her thighs she pushed him away, with some difficulty.  
  
'What are you doing?!' Letty asked, slightly alarmed. He smirked at her.  
  
'Come on Lett, stop playin with me. Just relax.' He slurred slightly as he leaned back over to the passenger side. Letty put her hands out in front of her.  
  
'No! Keep yo slimy paws offa me Shawn Remirez!' she said. But his hands wandered back to her legs. In one swift movement, she slapped him square across the face and threw open the door, practically diving out into the alleyway, where they were parked.  
  
'Damn bitch...' she heard him mutter as she ran down the alley toward the main street. She came out onto the road looking up and down for a sign of where she was. She was on Main Street. Shit, she thought, that's thirteen blocks from the Torretto's. And judging by the way the streets were empty, and how Shawn was now getting out of his car, she wouldn't have much chance of getting away. He was drunk, but he was big and unnaturally fast. He was captain of the track team, and Letty had a feeling any chance of escape was impossible. She had to run.  
  
Letty saw him stumble toward the alleyway entrance as she tore off down the street at full speed. She wasn't really paying attention where the hell she was running. As long as it was away from him. He began to run after her, and Letty felt her head rush as the heel of Mia's leather boots snapped and she fell onto the sidewalk.  
  
She hit her head against the pavement, hard and she felt her head swim. She looked back and saw the large figure of Shawn stagger toward her. She had to get up. She began to crawl, but her head felt like she'd just been hit with a hammer. She couldn't really see where she was going. She looked back up at Shawn, withdrawing fearfully as he approached her. Just as she thought all was lost, another figure jumped out of nowhere, throwing Shawn to the side. The two figures fought and eventually one fell and ran off. The triumphant one turned and bent down toward her, coming closer.  
  
'Stay away!' she said weakly, feeling as though she might collapse. But she felt to large hands grip her shoulders firmly as she weakly tried to squirm away. 'No...' she said feebly.  
  
'Letty, it's me. Just hold on.' She heard the far away familiar voice say. She squinted into the pain.  
  
'Dom?' she asked softly. But before he answered he grabbed her back and her knees and lifted her off the ground. She placed her head on his shoulder, the pounding dull and aching in her head.  
  
'You're okay. I'm gonna take you home.' He said softly, and the last thing Letty saw was a pair of tender and soulful brown eyes. Then she felt them slide in and out of focus and she blacked out. 


	4. Quality Time

The sun burned on Letty's caramel skin. Her eyes fluttered open as she groaned. God, what hit me? She thought. She squinted as she surveyed her surroundings. She was in Dom's room, that was for certain. Posters of cars were posted on almost every inch of the wall she was facing, and clothes were strewn across the floor. His beaten up desk sat in the corner, papers crumpled up and lying on its surface.  
  
Letty rolled over to face the window and realized she was wearing a loose white wife beater. She also saw that she was wearing a pair of black boxers. She pushed the heavy blanket back with her feet and looked to her right. There sat a chair, right next to her bed.  
  
'Oh god.' Letty said softly, rubbing the back of her head. She stared up at the clock which read 2:45pm. She grinned. At least she'd missed school. And Thursdays were always her worst days for some reason. She supposed Mia would be home soon to check on her.  
  
'Morning.' Letty turned to see Tony standing at the door. He was smiling but he looked a bit tired. 'Feeling better?' he said coming into the room. Letty nodded.  
  
'What happened?' she said sitting up, a little too quickly and felt her head pound. She sank down with a groan.  
  
'Take it easy. Dominic found you. You took a bad fall. Apparently you were running from a rather aggressive young man.' He said taking a seat next to the bed, and placing a cool cloth on her forehead. Letty looked at him with wide eyes.  
  
'I'm sorry Mr. Torretto.' She said pathetically. But he smiled at her.  
  
'Sometimes the best lessons are learned threw mistakes.' He said wiping the sweat from her forehead. 'You're alright. I doubt you'll be able to go to school tomorrow, but by Monday you should be fine.'  
  
'My dad...' Letty began but Tony waved his hand.  
  
'I already called him. He'll be calling back this evening, in case you were awake by then.' He said patting Letty's hand. Letty smiled at him as she sank even lower in the bed.  
  
'DAD!' came a loud shout from the living room, as the front door slammed. In less than 60 seconds, Dom had appeared at the door. 'Is she awake?' he asked a bit more softly as he entered his room. Tony smiled.  
  
'Yep, and she's going to be fine.' He said standing up and walking over to Dom, who wasn't looking anywhere but at Letty. 'You two can talk a bit. I'll make dinner around 5:30 and bring it up to you when its ready.'  
  
'Thanks Mr. Torretto.' Letty said waving a bit. Tony smiled, a twinkle in his dark eyes.  
  
'Call me Tony, Leticia.' He said before disappearing around the corner and down the stairs. Letty wished he hadn't gone. She didn't want to be alone with Dom. Not for the usual reason either. She felt so guilty around him.  
  
'So...' he said dropping his bag and taking a seat in the chair next to his bed. 'How are you feeling?' he said in a sympathetic tone. Letty shrugged.  
  
'Okay I guess. My head hurts like a bitch, but I guess that's the price you pay.' She said. Dom smiled and nodded. 'Dom? I'm sorry. I should have gone with you and Mia. I was being an idiot.' She said staring down at her hands as she fidgeted nervously.  
  
'Wow. The great Leticia Garcia, apologizing to ME, of all people. It's a dream come true.' He said leaning back in his chair.  
  
'Don't start with me. I may be crippled, but I'm still feisty.' She said in mock anger. He smiled.  
  
'Yeah, I know.' He said. They sat in silence for a little while, before Letty broke it between them.  
  
'Dom, do you really care what happens to me?' she said quietly. He raised an eyebrow.  
  
'What?' he said. She blushed a little but continued, her injured brain giving her an alibi if she need say that she had gone temporarily insane later that day.  
  
'Well, Mia said the reason you're always fighting with me and challenging me and shit like that, is because you don't want me to get hurt. I just wanted to know if it's true.'  
  
Dom smiled. 'Yeah. Yeah it's true.' Letty smirked.  
  
'And here I thought you were just being a jerk.'  
  
'Now who's being the smart ass?' He said leaning forward with his hands together.  
  
'Alright alright, I'll play nice.' Letty said throwing her hands in the air. Dom laughed and Letty felt it was the first time he'd been laughing with her and not at her. It felt nice. Nice to know that Dom cared and could laugh with her.  
  
'So what happened while I was out of it?' she said lying on her side, turning toward him. He smiled and shifted into a comfortable sitting position.  
  
'Well, after I beat the crap out of Remirez, I took you home, and we were afraid you might have to go the hospital. But Dad said he didn't think it was serious and that if you didn't wake up today, then we'd take you in.'  
  
'Is that it?' Letty said smiling, 'Cause I don't remember leaving in these clothes...'  
  
Dom smiled, his flirty seductive smile that he reserved for the girls at school. 'Well, I just changed you, wanted you to be comfortable.'  
  
'Into your underwear. Thanks.' She said rolling back over.  
  
For the remainder of the night, Dom stayed with Letty in his room. They talked about almost everything. School, cars, Vince and the gang, guys and girls, told stories of the different stupid stuff they'd done. For once Letty actually felt like they were getting along. And Dom must have felt the same. He'd brought his dinner up and ate with her when she wasn't aloud out of bed.  
  
'So then my dad went in and got my ass out of the security room.' Letty finished as she put her glass on the nightstand. Dom shook his head.  
  
'Rebel Letty.' He said as he finished off the last of his pasta. Suddenly the phone by Dom's bed rang. He shook his hand, wiping it on his shirt before answering.  
  
'Hello? Oh yeah, one second...Letty, it's your dad.' He handed her the phone. She smiled and took it, pressing it to her cheek.  
  
'Hey Papi...Yeah, I'm okay now, I just have a little headache... oh...but can't you... but you said...no I don't understand...but I'm hurt and all, why can't you just...' Dom watched as Letty's face went threw a rollercoaster of emotions. Happy, sad, angry. He wondered what Mr. Garcia was saying. 'Fine... I said FINE!... yeah, whatever. Abandon me. I said alright. Bye.' She handed the phone to Dom, who hung it up.  
  
'What's up?' he said as Letty let out a huge sigh.  
  
'He can't be home for another two weeks.' She said dully. 'He said he was sorry and all that sad ass parent shit.'  
  
'Come on Lett, you know he'd be here if he could.' Dom said trying to cheer her up. She sighed again and stretched out across the bed.  
  
'I know. It's just, I want him to come home.' She sighed.  
  
'your dad's really important to you isn't he?' he said watching her carefully. Letty stared back and then gave him a thoughtful look.  
  
'He's the only way out sometimes.' She said dreamily, as if she weren't all there. Dom frowned.  
  
'Out? Out of what?' he said placing his plate next to her glass.  
  
'Out of life. You know, all the crap that goes on. Bad grades, suspensions, people fighting with me, my mom, you...' Letty looked up as the last word left her mouth. Dom frowned and looked to the ground and Letty felt ashamed. She'd just ruined they're only time together where they weren't at each other's throats. But he smiled up at her.  
  
'I been rough on you, haven't I?' he said honestly. Letty stared.  
  
'Well, I guess, but I was always buggin you and shit. And I'm like fifteen...'  
  
'Almost sixteen.' He said interrupting her. 'That's only two years difference.' He said.  
  
'Yeah, I guess.' Letty said stretching out as a yawn escaped her. Dom gave her another small smile and got up. 'Where you going?' Letty said sleepily.  
  
'To bed. You're gonna pass out any minute, I can tell.' He said placing the chair back against the wall. Letty smiled.  
  
'I'm not tired.' She lied. He smirked.  
  
'Uhuh. Don't try to bullshit the bullshitter Lett.' He said turning to go around the bed. But a hand shot out and grabbed his. He looked back down at her, her eyes droopy and her hair spilling loosely out over the pillows of his bed.  
  
'Stay until I fall asleep?' she said in a husky voice, pulling him lightly back so that he sat on the edge of the bed. She hadn't pulled hard, so he obviously had succumbed to her sweet, helpless disposition. He simply stared at her as she stretched out and closed her eyes, her hand still in his. A few minutes passed, until her chest began to rise and fall into a rhythmic timing.  
  
'Asleep yet?' he asked softly. She didn't flinch or move, so he got up and pulled the covers up over her chest. He stood back to marvel at her. Her caramel skin shone by the faint light coming from the hall. Her face was so dreamy that he felt if he reached out to touch her, she'd disappear. He shook himself. Since when did he want to reach out and touch her? Sure he cared for her like a brother, and touching was definitely not in the brotherly code. He smiled as she let out a tiny yawn and fell back into peaceful dreams. 'Night Letty.' 


	5. Winning When You're Losing

The next day, Letty didn't wake until around three and by then, she'd had enough sleep to make her sick of Dom's room. Never thought I'd think that, she thought to herself, lying in the same bed that smells and feels like Dom. Her eyes snapped open. Damn, she must have really hit her head hard, if she was thinking something like that.  
  
She swept out of bed and got dressed, throwing Dom's stuff on his bed. She walked into Mia's room and picked out a pair of tight stretch jeans that were at the back of Mia's closet because of the rips in the knees, and a white tank top that tied up the sides. Nice she thought. After a couple of days of Mia's coaching, she was getting to be able to do this on her own. She shrugged and went downstairs. She felt so restless suddenly, she decided she'd walk down to the Torretto's diner/garage, to hang with Tony. Maybe Mia would be there.  
  
She grabbed a bottle of water and left the house in high spirits, on her way to see what Tony was up to. Unfortunately, she wasn't going to make it very far.  
  
On the corner of the street, Letty saw four people. Vince, Mia, Dom and LaTanya. The bitch who had the nerve to call her a dyke. She was hanging off of Dom's arm, patting his chest and rubbing her leg against his. Letty felt her hands form fists as she walked down the street towards them.  
  
'Letty!' Mia said, immediately seeming to perk up at her friend's arrival. Even Vince seemed happy to see her, rather than watch LaTanya try to dry fuck Dom.  
  
'Hey guys.' She replied as she stuffed her hands in her pockets. Mia gave her an appreciative look.  
  
'So you're finally picking out nice stuff on your own huh?' she said with a smirk. 'You can keep the jeans, they seem more your style than mine.' Letty nodded as she walked up to Dom, who looked a bit preoccupied.  
  
'Yeah baby, course we can go catch a movie later.' Dom said grinning at his latest catch. Letty felt as if she was gonna hurl right there on the street corner.  
  
'Anyway, I was heading down to the garage, it's boring as hell back at the house.' Letty said almost making to pass Dom and LaTanya without paying them any notice. But LaTanya seemed to have a death wish, her eyebrow raised, a smirk firmly in place.  
  
'Oh look who it is.' She said as Letty glared at her.  
  
'Hey Dom.' Letty said, ignoring the hoe who looked as though she wanted to get up in someone's face. Dom nodded.  
  
'Hey Lett.' He said with a small, rather approving smile. LaTanya looked a little phased by Dom's friendly hello, but quickly got over it. She stopped gaping at him and regained her smirk, almost instantly, up for Letty's 'challenge'.  
  
'So, not only are you trying to cover up by dressing like a girl, you're also moving in on a man... my man...' she sneered, 'I'm almost convinced.'  
  
'What did you say to me?' Letty said placing her hands on her hips.  
  
'What, don't you remember our last conversation?' she said in her snotty bitchiest tone. Dom was looking between the two of them, as if politely lost.  
  
'You wanna lose something hoe, cause the way you're going...' Letty said forming fists and placing them on either side of her. LaTanya laughed.  
  
'Don't touch me, dyke, I don't wanna get myself dirty.' She said snickering. Letty was about to jump at her when Dom rounded on her first.  
  
'Nobody talks to Letty like that.' He said un snaking her arm from his side. LaTanya's eyes widened at his sudden change towards her. Her mouth opened and closed as if she were a fish out of water. 'Why don't you go back to the trailer trash freak show you obviously crawled out from?' he said in his coolest tone as he grabbed Letty's back and pushed her up the road back to the Torretto house. Mia and Vince merely stood at the corner, trying not to bust a rib from laughing at the deflated and confused look that was plastered across LaTanya's face.  
  
As he pushed her inside the house, Letty was starting to feel a little irritated by his pushiness and the way he was acting. He slammed the door and marched her into the living room.  
  
'Lie down.' He commanded about to leave the room again.  
  
'No.' she said, her voice loud and firm as she stood in the middle of the room, staring at him defiantly.  
  
'Letty, for God sake, LIE THE FUCK DOWN! Do you wanna get sick again?!' he yelled at her from the kitchen. But Letty stood unfazed, her arms crossed, looking out the window, pretending to ignore Dom. He came back in with a glass of water and a wet cloth. 'Lie down.' He repeated.  
  
'Why? It's not like you care what happens to me.' Letty said. She felt a little mellow dramatic saying that, but damn, she was mad at this guy's pimp ass. No way was she gonna do what he said. Not after catching him with LaTanya. Any affection she felt towards him was suddenly fading away.  
  
'Letty I do care! That's why I need you to lie down!' he said still yelling as he sat the glass and cloth down on the coffee table.  
  
'What am I? LaTanya's replacement?' she said, placing her hands on her hips. Dom just stared at her as if she were crazy, 'How long until she was on her back under you Dom? Huh?' Letty screamed. She couldn't stand the thought of anyone under him, let alone LaTanya!  
  
'How. Fuckin. Dare. You.' He said slowly and in a very startling voice. It was forced calm and that's what made it so much more frightening. 'Don't act like you know me Garcia!' he said in his dangerous tone, the use of her last name catching her off guard. Oh yeah. He was pissed. Letty was starting to get a bit wary, but her thick headedness got the better of her.  
  
'Come on Dom! Did you even know her fuckin name?! All you're good for is a good fuck and a pat on the back! You don't care about anyone but yourself!' she yelled throwing her hands around. But before she knew what was happening, in one swift movement, Dom had picked her up by her wrists and slammed her against the wall, holding her there.  
  
'Where the fuck do you get off Letty?!!' He yelled in her face. She merely stared back at him, her face set in a stony glare as he held her against the hard wall. 'Hell if I didn't care about you, you think I'd go threw all your shit?!' he shouted.  
  
'If you care, why are you such a FUCKING PRICK WHEN YOU'RE AROUND ME?!' Letty screamed back with equal force, her face dangerously close to his, as they faced off in the living room.  
  
'FUCK YOU LETTY!' he said releasing her, his voice booming and filling the house. She wondered if there was anyone on the street who HADN'T heard their argument. She slid down the wall onto the floor as he stomped back into the kitchen mumbling obscene words under his breath. Letty sat there watching him. 'If you wanna get sick again, be my guest, but don't come crying to me afterwards!' he shouted as he sat down at the table, his hands massaging his temples, as though he had a headache too.  
  
Letty was about to yell back when she heard the doorbell. She simply slumped back as Dom got up, shooting her a fierce look as he walked over to the door. He unlocked it and opened it, as Letty listened from her spot on the floor.  
  
'Hello...' Dom said, his voice sounding confused.  
  
'Hello, is...' the sound of paper being flipped, 'Leticia Garcia here. We need to speak with her.' Letty peered around the corner. Dom was standing at the door, facing a police officer who stood a little shorter than him. Letty collected herself and stood up, walking over to the door. Dom was giving her a What-did-you-do-now sort of look, which she matched with an angry glare.  
  
'Are you Leticia Garcia?' the officer said, looking quite grave. Letty frowned.  
  
'Yeah. Why?' she said slowly, folding her arms around her. As far as she could remember, having an argument on a street corner wasn't a federal offense. The officer cleared his throat.  
  
'I'm afraid I have some news for you. Perhaps you should take a seat.' He motioned to the couch inside, but Letty didn't budge.  
  
'I'd rather stand.' She said shortly, still maintaining an angry glare at Dom threw the corner of her eye. He looked as if he was going to kill her once the cop left. 'What do you want?' The officer sighed.  
  
'Miss Garcia... late yesterday night, your father was in a car accident on the his way back to L.A.' Letty's face suddenly went pale and she felt as though she might be sick, 'He was rushed to General Hospital immediately after the three cars collided...' Three cars. Letty definitely felt as though she might retch right there in the hall. The officer had trailed off, and Letty's wide eyes finally came to meet.  
  
'He's okay?' she said, not able to make any more words come out of her mouth. Her tongue had gone dry and there was a lump surfacing in her throat. 'But he's okay, right?' She stuttered out, her hands clenching into fists. Her throat was making it hard to force any words out.  
  
'No.' The officer continued, his voice becoming deep and stony, 'I'm afraid not.' Letty's eyes widened even further as she felt her knees begin to wobble. 'I'm afraid ... Miss Garcia, your father passed away early this morning.' Letty's mouth opened slightly, and she felt her eyes become wet. She began to shake from head to toe, feeling as though she was going break down and cry. 'We need you to...to come in and identify the body as Pablo Garcia.' The body. Letty felt herself shake more violently as her knees buckled and she fell.  
  
'Letty!' Dom cried out, grabbing her shoulders, as she slid against his body. She sat there, shaking uncontrollably as Dom hugged her back to his chest. She heard him, threw a haze, say 'Thank you officer'. She felt sick and wanted to throw up until nothing was left inside her.  
  
As the officer nodded and walked back down to his car, Letty began to sob and cry, chanting 'Oh god, oh god.' Over and over as Dom held her, swallowing back the vile that kept threatening to force itself out of her mouth.  
  
'Shhh...Letty, it's okay. I'm here.' He said softly as he turned her around and forced her into his arms. She sobbed even louder into the crook of his neck as he soothingly rubbed his hand in circles on her back. He felt his shirt become wet from her tears and he finally pulled her closer, 'We need to go upstairs now.' He whispered, taking her hands and putting them around his neck. He picked her limp body up, kicked the door closed and carried her up the stairs, to his room.  
  
As he laid her down, her shaking began to die down a bit and her sobbing lessened. He lay down next to her on the bed and felt her roll into him and hug him tightly, as though she were afraid that he'd leave her lying there all alone. She jerked a little when she felt his arms wrap around her, and she began to cry into his chest again, her ribs already hurting from her heart ache. He patted her back and stroked her hair, cooing reassurances like 'It's okay' and 'it'll be alright'. Truthfully, he didn't know it would be okay or alright. He just wanted her to stop crying.  
  
Letty never cried. And Dom was silently thankful because seeing her cry now was such a heart wrenching experience. It made him feel so sad for her, made him want to give her everything, just so he could see her smile again.  
  
But right now, he just had to be there for her.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
'Yes, of course officer...' Tony said as he leaned against their kitchen counter, 'Well, you see we don't know where Mrs. Garcia is, Pablo wanted Letty to stay here for the week...' Dom watched his father pace the kitchen. Mia was on the couch in the living room, just staring at the ceiling. Directly above her, Letty was lying in Dom's bed, asleep, after crying for three or four hours. Dom slumped down in his chair as his father hung up the phone and exhaled.  
  
'Well?' Dom asked quietly, searching his father's face for something that would tell him about the conversation.  
  
'Well, the police can't locate Maria. I'd be surprised if they didn't find her high as a kite downtown, staring at a parking meter.' He said rubbing his hand over her tired face.  
  
'So I guess Letty is staying here for a little longer than expected.' Dom said softly.  
  
'Maybe even longer. I'd hate to leave that girl with her dead beat mother.' Tony said leaning back against the counter again. 'Dom, I want you to sleep with Letty tonight. I don't want her to be alone.' Dom frowned.  
  
'Why me?' he asked. It wasn't his usual defensive why-me, it was an actual question.  
  
'Mia's a little too sensitive to be spending the night up with Letty. She'd probably make things up there worse. I just want you to offer her any reassurance you can, and watch her. She's grief stricken and I hate to say that we don't know what she might do.' He sighed, again rubbing his tired eyes.  
  
'Go to bed Dad.' Dom said standing up. 'I'll watch Lett, don't worry.' Tony smiled and patted Dom's shoulder.  
  
'Good night son.' He said moving into the living room. Dom heard a muffled 'Come on Mia.' And then saw the glow in there die. He put his head in his hands and exhaled deeply. Life wasn't fair. He thought as he sat there thinking of Letty. She was a good kid. She deserved the world. Instead she always got stuck with the short end of the stick.  
  
She had no father now. No mother. No real home. She was always in trouble. And he, Dom, never made things better by teasing her. He felt so guilty. She was so young. She had it so rough.  
  
He wandered up the stairs and down the hall, finally coming to his room and pushing open the door. Letty's small body lay across his bed, lying on her front, her back rising evenly with her breathing. Dom rubbed the back of his neck as he walked toward the bed. Her face was tear stained and, at the moment, emotionless. Dom grimaced as he took off his shirt. He wondered if he should let her sleep in her clothes. He shrugged and walked over to her sleeping body. He slowly and carefully turned her over, so as not to wake her. He unzipped her jeans and pulled them down and threw them on the floor. He unlaced the sides of her top and it soon joined her pants on the floor.  
  
Dom stood back to look at her. He hated to say it, but with her hair spread out, her damp face and her nearly naked body, illuminated by moonlight, she looked damn beautiful. He wondered why he had never realized it before. She was almost sixteen after all, and she had a few curves most girls her age shouldn't really have. He smiled as he gently picked her up and pulled the covers back, and then enveloping her in the warmth of his bed. Little Letty was all grown up, and being the dick that he was, he hadn't noticed.  
  
He walked to the other side and climbed on top of the sheets on the other side, pulling her sleeping body close and gently caressing her tear soaked cheeks. He stared at her until he felt his eyelids droop and fell into a deep sleep.  
  
Letty awoke slowly, feeling warmth all around her. She snuggled into the warm body next to her and looked up into Dom's sleeping face. His mouth was open just a bit and his head was propped gently on the pillow. He was sleeping on top of the covers and his well muscled chest was rising and falling, rising and falling.  
  
Letty grimaced as the events of yesterday flooded back to her. She looked up at the clock which read three twenty am. Today was the day Tony was going to take her to identify the body. The first hour she'd been crying she kept telling herself that it wouldn't be him. It would be just another Mexican guy and her father would come home and take care of her again. Letty couldn't suppress a sob as she thought more about her poor papi as he died in a hospital so far away from her, alone. And then she remembered the last things she said to him, such hateful, pathetic words. How she'd guilted him into coming home early. He'd been rushing home to get her. It was her fault that her father was lying cold and lifeless in a hospital morgue.  
  
Letty shuddered and released yet another loud sob. But this time she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into a pair of sleepy brown eyes.  
  
'Letty...' Dom breathed softly. Letty looked away. She couldn't let him see her crying again. It was so shameful. But it was apparently too late. 'Letty, look at me.' She felt Dom's hand turn her chin to face him. 'What is it?' he said searching her eyes. She sobbed again and everything came pouring back.  
  
'It's my fault, Dom.' She said before her voice cracked and she shook violently. Dom frowned and sat up looking at her.  
  
'What are you talking about?' he asked in a hushed voice. She felt a few tears stream down her cheeks. 'What's your fault?'  
  
'He was rushing home to see me... that's why he was hurrying... that's why he's gone...' at that last word, her voice completely broke and a fresh wave of tears broke over her sweat and tear stained face. Dom took hold of her shoulders and forced her to look at him.  
  
'Listen to me Letty. You didn't do anything! It's not your fault...'  
  
'Yes it is!' Letty cried, but Dom merely shook her.  
  
'No it's not.' He said putting her forehead against his as she cried silently. 'He loved you so much Letty. He wouldn't want you to blame yourself for something you had no control over.' He said as he wiped a wet strand of hair from her eyes. 'Okay?'  
  
Letty nodded weakly placed her head on Dom chest, silent tears still streaming down her face. Dom hugged her closer.  
  
'Come on. Don't cry no more, you're breaking my heart.' He cooed in her ear as he stroked her hair. She shuddered under his touch and pulled him as close as she could. She felt his arms surround her and pull her up to face him.  
  
'Dom...' Letty said huskily, her voice crackling from her crying.  
  
'Yeah, Lett?' he said softly. She opened her mouth, but her words got lost on the way out.  
  
'Good night.' She whispered, before lowering her head. He smiled and let her fall to his side. She rolled over into a tiny protective ball and lay almost motionless beside him. Dom sighed. Poor Letty. He felt so sorry for her and wished for once that he could take care of her. He pulled the blanket over her again and stalked over to his small couch like arm chair and perched himself in it, pulling a blanket over himself, falling into an awkward and uncomfortable sleep. 


	6. Connecting and Forgetting

The next few weeks passed by, all dull and rainy, considering it was April. Letty had identified her father's body, and had since been inconsolable. That little bit of hope that she'd been holding onto had disappeared, and she sank into depression. She lay in Dom's bed, crying or simply lying there, staring out his window at the gray sky.  
  
After that day at the morgue, she hadn't let anyone come to see her, unless it was Tony bringing her up a plate of food, which usually remained untouched when he returned for it.  
  
She hadn't attended class for two weeks and kids at school were beginning to wonder where she had disappeared to. Rumors spread, she ran away, she was pregnant, she was sitting high in a basement with her mother some where on the south side of town. Dom became angry every time one of the girls gossiped around him, and would immediately tell them it wasn't their business and promptly relocate himself.  
  
Finally, on Monday of week three, Letty opened the bedroom door. She walked down the hall, trying to be silent. It was six fifteen and Mia, Tony and Dom were still asleep. Or so she thought...  
  
She wondered down into the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge, beginning to rummage around for leftovers, when she heard footsteps behind her. She stood up quickly and turned slowly to face a drowsy looking Dom. He smiled sleepily as he sank down in one of the kitchen chairs.  
  
'Hey Lett.' He said in a groggy voice. Letty nodded back, leaning against the counter. Dom had decided that treating Letty as if she were fragile would only make her cry again. Then again, he couldn't be too rough either.  
  
'So what are you up to today?' he said, grabbing an apple that was in the basket on the kitchen table. Letty raised an eyebrow.  
  
'I... I dunno. Watch TV I guess.' She said shrugging. Dom smiled as he took another bite of his apple.  
  
'When are you coming back to school, Lett?' Dom said trying to settle her back into small talk. She shrugged again.  
  
'I dunno. Not...not yet.' She said looking down at her feet, inhaling deeply as if she were going to hyperventilate. Dom nodded.  
  
'That's okay. You're not missing much. The most interesting thing that's happened all week, was when Torynn chased Edwin around the school for calling her 'his nigga'. She was ready to beat the crap outta him.' Dom said smiling.  
  
Letty let out a small laugh, not forced, just small. She continued to smile slightly. Dom liked that. He hadn't seen her in almost two weeks; it was good to know that she could smile again.  
  
'And Vince asked Nikki out.' Dom said biting into his apple again. Letty looked shocked.  
  
'Really?' she said in a dry throaty voice. Dom supposed it was that way because she hadn't used it in a while. Dom nodded. 'I guess I always thought he was into Mia.' She said slowly, drawing a deep breath. Dom raised an eyebrow.  
  
'Say what?' he said dropping his apple.  
  
'Oh come on, don't act like you didn't know.' Letty said standing up straight, a small smile on her face. Dom just stared at her. 'Oh my god! You didn't know!' Letty rasped. 'God, didn't you feel your Dommy senses tingling, or whatever the fuck happens when you get a strange feeling.' She said. It was a weak attempt at a joke, but Dom smiled and shrugged.  
  
'You know me.' He said throwing the apple remains in the trash. He wiped his hands on the boxers he was wearing and promptly stood. 'Well I gotta get ready. Vince is picking me up early and I have a feeling I'll be talking to him about a certain sister of mine.'  
  
'Dom, you only have one sister.' Letty said as she passed him, going into the living room. He smiled.  
  
'No I have two.' He said leaning over and kissing the top of her head. 'Gotta fly baby girl. See you after school.' He said running up the stairs to his room. Letty felt her eyes begin to water, but banished them back. She'd already done enough crying. Of course this was for a different reason. Dom thought of her as a sister? As much as she hated to admit it, she'd developed feelings for him over the last month. Knowing that he didn't feel the same, put another crack in her already aching heart.  
  
She sighed as she sank down on the couch. Of course. Of all the guys at her school, most of whom had developed a boner for her ever since that first encounter when she'd 'transformed', the one guy that she wants, she can't have. Because he won't love her back. No that's not true, she told herself bitterly.  
  
'He loves you as a 'sister'.' She emphasized her last word with a low, deflated voice. It just made her so mad. What the hell more did he want? Was her butt too big? Her chest too small? Was she too young? Was she too ugly? Hadn't she been in bed with him, both stripped down to their underwear, crying into his shoulder as he consoled her? Didn't he understand she wouldn't let just ANYONE do that?  
  
'Good morning Letty.' She turned to see Tony leaning against the doorframe, smiling sleepily. She forced herself to smile back, not sure how convincing it was.  
  
'Good morning.' She replied, looking around as if the room interested her, as if she'd never seen it properly before.  
  
'It's good to see that you're up,' he said sipping his coffee and dropping his morning paper on the coffee table. 'how are you feeling?'  
  
'Better.' Letty replied, nodding her head. She actually did. After having that lighthearted conversation with Dom, the pain of her father's death was starting to finally, slowly ebb away. 'How's Mia? I'm sorry I didn't talk with her or you or Dom...'  
  
'It's alright. I understand, and I'm sure they do too. Mia's good, at first she was a little on edge but I think she's starting to get back to her normal self. I dare say, you'll need her happy, energizing personality.' He said matter-of-factly, before sipping his coffee again. Letty nodded.  
  
'I'm not ready to go back to school.' She said looking back up at him, her face almost pleading with him. He nodded and rested his hand on her back.  
  
'Just tell me when you are. I don't want you to feel rushed.' He said, finally standing, looking at his watch and sighing. 'Well I have to get to the garage. MIA!' he yelled as he wandered over to the stairs. Letty heard a loud thundering sound as Mia bounded down the stairs. She smiled at her father and then looked at Letty who was sitting and looking back at her. Her mouth opened a little and her eyebrows contracted.  
  
'Letty.' She said softly. 'I thought you were still in bed.' She said looking at her as if unsure of her reaction. Letty smiled in reply, trying to put her friend at ease.  
  
'I'm better now.' She said shortly and nodding at her. Mia seemed to relax a bit and smile back, a big warm smile that seemed to sum up Mia's happy personality.  
  
'I'm really glad.' She said picking up her school bag from the floor. 'I promise when I get home, we can do something. Like rent a movie or whatever.' She said. Letty smiled. Mia was so excited for her to be up. And that made Letty happy.  
  
'You bet.' She said nodding again.  
  
'Who's getting a movie?' Dom said, coming down the stairs, pulling a white tee shirt down over his rock hard abs. He rounded the corner and saw Letty smiling.  
  
'Me and Letty. We're gonna hang, since she's feeling so much better.' Mia said smiling, still watching her friend.  
  
'Am I invited?' he asked pocketing his wallet and looking between the two of them.  
  
'Of course.' Letty said softly, tilting her head. Mia stared at her as if she'd just swore loudly. It was Mia's look of polite shock. She soon shook it off as she saw Dom smile at her and pass Tony and her. Although she did stare after him as if he had just grown another head.  
  
'I'll be home around five okay pop.' He said looking at his father.  
  
'Okay, make sure you get those parts from Harry for me!'  
  
'Yeah, yeah!' Dom yelled from outside.  
  
'I'm serious Dom! DON'T FORGET!' he yelled after his son as the sound of the truck door opened and slammed shut. He shook his head, inhaling deeply, rubbing the back of his neck. Then he suddenly realized he'd been yelling and looked to Letty with a look of apology. She just stared. What was she suddenly made of? Glass?  
  
'Well Mia, if you're ready, we better leave, I've got a lot of appointments today.' He said trying to usher Mia toward the door. She nodded.  
  
'Okay daddy.' She gave Letty one last assuring look. 'See you!' she said walking out the door, closely followed by Tony. Letty just smiled and waved. She then sunk down in the sofa cushions and sighed, then smiled. It was a lot easier to smile and be happy, than it was to cry and be upset. She then silently decided that the rest of the day would be dedicated to trying to act normal again so that that night when Dom and Mia were watching the movie, she could be as normal as possible. Maybe even get Dom to realize that she liked him in a way that was a little more serious than 'sisterly love'.  
  
**********************************************************************  
  
'Letty?!' came a shout from the front door, as Mia entered the house. Letty peered around the corner, a small smile on her face. Mia gave a large grin, holding up two bags of chips and candy and two movies.  
  
'Holy crap Mi, did you buy out the Sugah Shack or somethin?' Letty said folding her arms, bemused by her friend's sweet tooth. Mia smiled and walked into the living room, setting all the junk food on the coffee table.  
  
'Ha ha.' She said sarcastically. 'I just couldn't decide what to get. And anyway, Dom will try to eat it all, and we'll be lucky if we get any at all.' Letty sighed. Mia froze for a moment and raised an eyebrow, then stood up straight, putting her hands on her hips. Letty just stared at her as she fell back on the couch.  
  
'What?' she finally said, as a knowing smile crept up on Mia's lips.  
  
'You're falling for Dom.' She said shortly, a little chuckle tacked onto the end of her comment. Letty's eyes widened and she tried to look as if the statement both confused and angered her.  
  
'What the hell are you talking about?' she said, her voice laughable. 'Did you make brownies today or something?' she said shrugging and breaking eye contact with her friend. But Mia looked unconvinced.  
  
'Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about.' She said walking into Letty's line of vision. 'I saw how the two of you looked at each other this morning. How you wanted him to come watch the movies with us, and how he actually accepted. You like him!' she let the last sentence out in a little squeal. Letty jumped a bit then crossed her arms frowning.  
  
'Even if I did... which I don't!' she said as Mia had a look of triumph dawning on her face, 'I don't see why you're so happy about it!'  
  
'Oh come on Lett!' she said sitting next to her. 'You're the one girl who's ever been interested in Dom because of him, not because of his body or his badassedness!'  
  
'Kay, Mi, first I don't think badassedness is a word, and second, I am not interested in him!' she said the last bit loudly, dropping her arms to her sides. The door slammed and both Mia and Letty jumped a little.  
  
'Interested in who?' Dom said as he walked into the hall and into the kitchen, dropping his school bag and opening the fridge. Letty glared at Mia and then forced a calm voice.  
  
'Shawn Remirez.' She lied, hoping it sounded plausible. Dom walked into the living room, a beer in his hand, sipping it gingerly. His eyebrows shot up.  
  
'I thought that was a given. He did try to rape you remember?' he said jokingly. Letty smiled. It was good for him to try and joke around her.  
  
'Exactly. Don't be stupid Mia.' Letty said, smirking at Mia, who smiled sarcastically back.  
  
'Hey, who got the sweets?' Dom said, reaching for the two bags. Mia quickly grabbed them off the table, and Dom glared at her.  
  
'I got them from the Sugah Shack, and you're not gonna make a pig of yourself and eat it all.' She said matching his glare and sticking out her tongue. He huffed and gulped his beer, then sat down next to Letty, and not half way across the couch, right next to her, so their legs were touching. Letty looked down the looked back at Mia, who was smiling again, her smug little grin.  
  
'Shut up.' Letty said, raising her eyebrow. Mia raised her hands.  
  
'Hey, I didn't say nothin!' she said standing up and winking at her. Then she did a double take and stared at Dom and then at the kitchen.  
  
'Dom did you get those parts for dad?' she said looking back at Dom again. Letty watched him slap his hand to his forehead and let out a low sigh.  
  
'Shit.' He muttered about to stand up, sliding to the edge of the couch, when Mia put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him back. He looked at her, obviously confused.  
  
'Don't worry, I'll get them.' She said smiling slyly. Letty frowned. She knew what Mia was doing and was not at all impressed. Thankfully Dom stood up and pushed Mia out of the way lightly.  
  
'Don't be an idiot, Mia, Harry's is twenty minutes away by car. It'd take you all night to get those parts.' He said as if she were being stupid. Mia sat back on the couch, and leaned back.  
  
'Fine, but hurry up, or we'll start the movie without you.' She said closing her eyes, as Dom walked out the door toward his car. When Letty was sure he'd gotten out of earshot she hit Mia in the shoulder.  
  
'You bitch!' she said playfully, though she was actually kind of pissed. 'Don't think I didn't know what you were trying to do!' Mia merely shook with laughter.  
  
'Oh come on!' she said snorting a little, 'It's not like you were complaining about him sitting so close to you! And from the looks of things, neither was he!' WHAP! Letty had slapped Mia's arm again and Mia ran away, practically cackling. Letty shook her head. That crazy hoe! She thought, though she was smiling slightly. So Dom didn't mind... Always good to know.  
  
'Okay so which movie are we watchin first?' Mia interrupted. She raised the two movies, 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day' and 'The Silence of The Lambs', which were two of the hottest movies that year. They had just come out on video and Mia knew that Lett was DYING to see them. Letty smiled appreciatively and looked between the two. Then she pointed to Terminator.  
  
'We'll save Mr. Hannibal for later, that way we can really be scared shitless when it gets dark.' Letty said grabbing the blanket at the end of the couch and draping it on her bare legs. Mia looked a little unsure but nodded. Letty was a whole lot braver than her when it came to bloodbath movies.  
  
'You just wanna watch Hannibal later so that you can jump Dom and pretend you're scared!' Mia teased as she waved Terminator around. Letty threw one of the pillows at her.  
  
'You watch yourself girl!' she said trying to point a threatening finger at her. Mia simply giggled.  
  
'Oh god, I sooo want you two to hook up!' she said. Letty snorted. Then she realized that Mia was being serious.  
  
'Why?' she asked shaking her head.  
  
'Because... well, you HATED each other. And now... I guess it just proves that people can overcome their differences and stuff like that... and the fact that you're both my favorite people in the world!' she said, sounding a little overly ditzy.  
  
'Your favorite person in the world? But you're always complaining about him!' Letty said putting her feet up on the coffee table. Mia shrugged.  
  
'That's because he's a pain sometimes. But he looks out for me, and sometimes he can be really nice and friendly. And to me, that sort of outweighs the other shit he puts me through.' She said talking the video out of its case. Letty nodded.  
  
'I know what you mean.' She said quietly. Mia smiled and turned toward the TV.  
  
'Okay, let's get this puppy juiced up!' she said pushing the video into the VCR. Letty laughed as Mia pressed random buttons, until finally the TV buzzed and a picture came on. But it was fuzzy and kept sliding in and out of focus. 'Dammit! Dom usually does this, so I don't know...' she trailed off pressing more buttons.  
  
'Mi, it was better before!' Letty said as the TV started blinking oddly. Suddenly there was a sound of the front door opening and a pair of legs appeared. The rest of the body was blocked by a couple large brown boxes.  
  
'A little help please?' Dom's muffled voice said from behind the boxes. 'Heavy objects, not getting lighter!' Letty smiled and got up, throwing the blanket to the side and grabbing one of the boxes from Dom. Finally his head was unblocked and he smiled back at her as she walked into the kitchen.  
  
'Where do we put them?' she asked looking around. He grunted and gestured toward the floor next to the table. She put the box Dom, as did he, and he stood, stretching out.  
  
'You didn't have to.' He said finally as she pulled her ponytail up. 'Mia should have helped too.' He said grabbing a Corona out of the fridge. Letty shrugged.  
  
'She's getting the movie ready.' She said walking into the living room, closely followed by Dom. Mia was kneeling in front of the VCR, pressing even more buttons.  
  
'Mi, Mi, Mi.' Dom said shaking his head and walking over to the TV. 'You have no idea what you're doing.' He said as he shoved her to the side and bent down himself. He then pressed a few buttons and Letty saw that the picture was starting to come into focus. Then Dom promptly looked up and hit the side of the television. The picture came into clear focus, then the screen turned black.  
  
'You were saying.' Mia said angrily as the television refused to turn on. Dom shrugged.  
  
'It WAS an old TV.' He said rubbing the back of his neck. 'Dad'll have to replace it.'  
  
'Now what are we supposed to do?' Mia said crossing her arms and glaring at Dom, who shook his head and continued to look at the floor pensively. Letty sighed.  
  
'We could use my TV.' She said softly. They looked at her and Dom frowned.  
  
'What TV?' he said, crossing his arms, so that he and Mia were standing in almost the exact same way. Letty raised her eyebrows.  
  
'You know. The TV at my house.' She said as if they were both being stupid on purpose. Dom and Mia uncrossed their arms and exchanged looks and then looked at her as if unsure. She sighed again, 'Look, I'm fine! And I have a VCR! Why waste what we have, when all we have to do is go a couple doors down?' She felt as if she were as much trying to convince herself, as she was them.  
  
'Well. If you feel that way...' Dom said rubbing his neck again. 'I guess...'  
  
'Good.' Letty said, her voice a little high pitched, as she strode to the coffee table and grabbed the candy bags and walked briskly to the door.  
  
Dom ran up to her side, as Mia wrestled with the VCR to get the movie back.  
  
'You're sure about this?' Dom asked. 'We don't have to, we could always go to Vince's...' Letty stopped walking and turned to face him, letting out a sigh, her face earnest.  
  
'The truth is Dom, I'll have to face the house sometime, so I might as well get used to it now.' She said, her voice almost pleading. 'I really am fine. So why don't you stop worrying and just try and have some fun.' She said. With that she turned and continued walking toward her old house, bags on her arm, and Dom in tow.  
  
They reached the gate and Letty inhaled deeply. She pushed the rusty gate open and stepped forward, taking in the old white house, the paint peeling off the walls. She climbed up the porch steps, watching the hammock sway in the slight breeze. She took another deep breath and opened the screen door and put the key in the lock and turned it, making a familiar click. The door swung open and she walked inside. The house was just how she and Mia had left it. Blankets and pillows lying on the floor. She looked around the corner and flicked the lights on, just as Mia ran up the porch steps. Letty knew it sounded crazy but she felt like her home had become spooky and haunted. Which was stupid. It was the same house, same as when she'd left it. She shrugged and pointed to the VCR. Mia walked over and pushed the video into the slot and they all sat down to watch and munch on the candy.  
  
Letty, unfortunately, didn't enjoy the movie as much as she wanted to. Threw the shouts of 'I'll be bach!' she felt to tense to actually take in the plot. She had said she was fine, but really, inside, she felt so uncomfortable. After a couple of hours, Silence of the Lambs was drawing to an end. Mia was lying on the floor, her chest rising and falling evenly, signifying she'd fallen asleep. Dom was sitting next to Letty on the couch and he had not overlooked the fact that she was anxious and stressed. He slowly reached around her and pulled her close.  
  
'Hey!' she said, more in surprise than defense. She looked up at him, his eyes still fixed on the movie, though he was smiling. She smiled back. 'Dom, what are you doing?' she said, her eyes wide with hope. His grin grew slightly wider.  
  
'Just relax, watch the movie. You're safe with me.' Letty gawked at him as he said these words. Maybe he wasn't as oblivious to her feelings as she'd thought. She smirked. She never was very good at acting, and obviously her act wasn't working on him.  
  
She leant her head on his shoulder as she felt her eyelids grow heavy. She stared at the screen on which Anthony Hopkins was occupying but she wasn't taking in the story. All she could see, feel, smell was Dom. He was all around her and she couldn't escape him. Not that she was complaining. In fact she wished that this could go on forever. But unfortunately, life caught up with her...  
  
'WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!?' she sat bolt upright and whipped around to see her mother, Maria Garcia, starring around at the three of them. Her eyes were blood shot and she had an almost empty bottle of vodka in one of her hands. She had an expression of surprise, which quickly turned to one of drunken anger. Mia was awake now, since Maria's shriek and she was looking around confusedly.  
  
'Maria...' Letty said standing up, Dom following suit and standing behind her, glaring at Maria. Maria looked between the two of them accusingly, apparently either too angry, or too drunk to form words. She pointed at the door.  
  
'GET...OUT...' she bellowed, her arm shaking in suppressed rage. Mia quickly got up and rushed toward the door, followed by Dom and Letty. As Letty passed, Maria stretched out her hand and grabbed Letty's wrist, pulling her back. 'Where do you think you're going?!' she shouted in Letty's ear, 'Not you!'  
  
'She's coming home with us!' Dom said, his voice raised as he stood still at the door. Maria looked up at him and nearly spat.  
  
'Get out of my house!' she yelled again, still holding Letty back. Letty was giving Dom a fearful look as if saying just-go-without-me. But Dom ignored it and stayed still.  
  
'Not without Letty!' he yelled back, his fists shaking at his sides. Maria's eyes widened dangerously as she twisted Letty's arm painfully around and forced her daughter to drop to the floor on her knees.  
  
'She...IS MY DAUGHTER!' Maria spat at him as if she were under attack, 'AND SHE WILL REMAIN HERE!' she roared, throwing Letty down so that she had her face down on the floor, cradling her arm. Dom looked down at her, and then at Maria, raw hatred in his usually tender brown eyes. He stepped closer to Maria, who took a step backwards, obviously intimidated by Dom's large frame. He was at least seven inches taller than her and a lot bulkier.  
  
'She comes with me.' He said in his forced calm voice, as if his rage were bottled up and waiting to erupt. Maria shook her head, though she did look a bit frightened.  
  
'No!' she screamed and stood in front of Letty's body, which was lying on the floor. 'She is my daughter and if you try to take her, I'll call the cops on you!' she yelled, furthering Dom's anger. 'NOW GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!' she screamed at the top of her lungs. Dom was about to lunge for her when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
  
He turned to find his father standing behind him. Tony's eyes were dark, he was frowning and he seemed to have many hard lines etched into his forehead. He shook his head.  
  
'Go home Dom.' He said quietly. Dom's eyes widened.  
  
'What?!' he bellowed incredulously. 'But what about Letty?!?'  
  
'Let me handle this.' Tony said looking over Dom's shoulder at Maria, who was seething and glaring at Dom. Dom was about to argue further but Tony pushed him, hard toward the door. 'Go! Go take care of Mia!' Dom was about to yell back, but his father was already turned toward Maria, talking heatedly. Dom took one last look at Letty, lying on the floor, shaking, probably crying, while cradling her injured arm. He then forced himself to look ahead as he walked past the paint peeling walls, down the porch steps, threw the rusty gate, and down the vacant street. Rage throbbing throughout his body. 


	7. Claustrophobic

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!' Dom shouted, his voice echoing loudly throughout the entire house. Mia was upstairs in her room, crying last time he checked. Tony exhaled deeply, placing a hand on the back of his neck, shaking his head.  
  
'I mean we can't take Letty.' He said softly. Dom was seething. That bitch Maria was gonna beat Letty, and he couldn't do anything? Where was the justice in that?  
  
'But there has to be something we can do!' Dom yelled again, not mad at his father, just angry. Tony nodded gravely.  
  
'There is. But we have to appeal to a court. And after that we can either put Letty in a foster home or she could live here. Permanently.' Dom looked up.  
  
'You serious?' Dom said, pulling out a chair and sitting down slowly. Tony shrugged.  
  
'I'd rather have another mouth to feed, than for Leticia to have to go back to Maria.' He said walking over to the phone. 'I'm gonna call the cops. When they pick up Letty we'll see what we'll do.' He started dialing 911, and Dom stood up, walking into the living room, throwing himself down on the couch. This was messed up. For once, life wasn't doing what he wanted it to, and Dom was left helpless, didn't know what he could do to help. He stared up at the ceiling, listening to his father talking to a cop on the phone. But all he could see was a shadow of Letty's face, staring back down at him from the ceiling.  
  
Then something snapped. And he couldn't deal.  
  
'Dom?!' his father called after him, as he grabbed his jacket and wrenched open the door, walking quickly down the front steps. He had to get to Letty. Now.  
  
Dom began to run down the street and threw open the rusty gate, which fell off its hinges. He ran up the porch steps and began pounding on the front door.  
  
'OPEN UP!' he yelled as loudly as he could. When he heard no answer, he kicked open the door, part of it breaking off with a snap. He walked into the small, cramped hallway, looking for any sign of Letty. He saw Maria sitting on the couch, staring at the wall, her eyes bloodshot, and a needle laying on the cushion next to her.  
  
'LETTY!' Dom yelled up the stairs, looking away from Maria and running as fast as his legs could carry him. He came to a purple door, Letty's door, and pushed it open. Letty was lying on her bed, her arm in a bandage that was poorly wrapped. She looked up at him and her eyes widened a bit.  
  
'Dom?' she asked disbelievingly. Just as she'd decided life was unfair, that it wasn't worth living, here was her knight in shinning armor. 'What are you doing here?' she asked sitting up. She knew why he was here; she just wanted to hear him say it.  
  
'I'm taking you home.' He said walking over to her and picking her up, her head leaning against his chest. 'I won't let her hurt you Letty.' He said quietly as he slowly walked into the small hallway and down the stairs. Maria was still staring at the wall when he walked out of the house, Letty nestled against him and shivering, only wearing a pair of boxers and a big tee shirt.  
  
'DOM! What the fuck were you thinking?!' Tony yelled as Dominic walked in the door, Letty still cuddling into his embrace. She didn't know how to explain it, but when she was with him, like this, she felt untouchable.  
  
'Maria was to hyped to realize I even walked in.' Dom said as he lowered Letty onto the old couch in the living room. Tony looked her over, as did Dom. Not only was her arm bandaged, but she had scratched on her left cheek, looked like someone had swiped her with their nails. She also had bruises on her neck. She looked tired and she had bags under her eyes.  
  
'The police will be here in about ten minutes.' Tony said quietly, silently approving of what his son had done. Letty looked up at the mention of cops. Dom knelt down beside her.  
  
'Letty, I told you I wouldn't let her hurt you again.' He said softly, pushing some hair out of her face. Her eyes widened and looked at him for a moment, before she threw herself forward, latching her arms around his neck, and he could feel her crying again. He put his arms around her to reassure her she would be safe.  
  
'These are tears of joy, stupid.' She managed to say in between sobs. He smiled at her as she laughed at her own stupidity. She began wiping her eyes and lay back onto the couch, breathing deeply.  
  
'I'll go get you some water.' Tony said, and for the first time, Dom noticed that his father was almost as unsure of himself as Dom had felt a few moments earlier. Tony disappeared into the kitchen just as there was a knock at the door. Dom got up and walked to the door. The same sort, red headed officer that had told Letty about her father was standing in front of him.  
  
'Hello again officer.' Dom said stepping back and allowing him to enter. The cop nodded and looked around.  
  
'We believe Leticia may be here.' He said nodding toward the cop car parked at the curb. Dom could see the silhouette of Maria sitting in the back. Dom nodded.  
  
'She is.' He said before leading the cop to the living room. The officer bent down beside the couch and looked at the beaten but smiling latino girl with sympathy.  
  
'Are you alright?' he asked looking over her disheveled appearance. She widened her smile.  
  
'I am now.' She said looking up at Dom. 'I am here.' She said looking back to the officer. He nodded.  
  
'I'm afraid we'll have to take you down to the station.' He said standing up. Tony walked into the room, having heard the discussion, carrying a glass of water. He nodded to the officer.  
  
'I'd like to accompany her.' Tony said giving the glass to Letty, who sipped it gingerly. 'I'm Anthony Torretto, I've been taking care of Leticia for the past few weeks.' The officer nodded back.  
  
'I'm coming too.' Dom said firmly. Tony turned to him and shook his head.  
  
'Mia needs someone back here.'  
  
'But dad, I want to come...'  
  
'No Dominic.' He said, his voice calm but with a slight edge. 'You'll see her later. For now Mia needs you more.' That's not true, Letty thought. I need Dom a lot more than Mia does. I need him so much. Letty was starting to understand that the feelings she was having weren't friendly feelings. And they weren't crush feelings either. She was actually falling for Dom. Dominic Torretto. The man she couldn't stand. And now, he was the only thing that kept her standing.  
  
'Fine.' Dom agreed, though it was very certain that he was not at all fine with his father's decision. He glared as Tony helped Letty onto her feet, and she shuffled out of the Torretto home, Tony holding her up and supporting her as she walked. Dom snorted and stormed up the stairs. So he was just supposed to wait at home with Mia?  
  
Not that he had a choice. He'd just have to stay. 


	8. Sweet Sixteen

Letty had stayed with the police all night, until they released her into the temporary custody of the Torrettos. She seemed a little shell shocked the first few days. Losing her father and her mother in a matter of weeks was NOT the kind of sweet sixteen she had been hoping for. And it turned out that her custody hearing was the day of her birthday.  
  
Happy birthday to me, Letty thought as she and Tony were ushered to the judge's chambers. They entered and Letty felt a chill run threw her, and for the first time she was afraid, of not being appointed to the Torrettos permanently. Where would she go? Who would take her in?  
  
Two hours later, Letty left the judge's chambers, a smile plastered on her tanned face. She was a Torretto now. She looked up to Tony, who was positively beaming at her, and she couldn't help but smile a little wider. She had a family again. And that was all that mattered to her now.  
  
As they drove home in silence, Letty wondered what she would do the rest of the day. The sun was still in the sky, and Mia was still at her friend Stacy's house, finishing a project. Dom would be home and Tony had to stop at the garage for about an hour.  
  
'I can walk home.' Letty offered getting out and nodding to the mechanics as they ducked under the Sunfire that was currently Tony's main project. Tony smiled.  
  
'Okay. I told Dominic we'd be home at seven, but he'll be happy to see you.' He said before disappearing into the back of the garage, probably searching for his coveralls, which always seemed to be lost. Letty nodded and turned and began walking up the sloped street toward the Torretto's block. After about ten minutes, the white house came into view and Letty quickened her pace. She couldn't wait to tell Dom she was officially part of the family. He hadn't been spending a lot of time with her lately. He would talk with her at breakfast, or have a quick conversation with her in the hall, but other than that, he seemed to disappear off the face of the planet. He'd come home early in the mornings, and woke late. He would come home after school, and no sooner had Letty arrived, then he would leave again.  
  
Probably the stupid engine he and Vince were working on for shop, Letty muttered to herself. She wondered how her team was doing. They were one person short after all. Letty walked up the front steps and reached for the doorknob, when she stopped suddenly. She looked to the driveway and there was Dominic's truck. And a red Volvo 780. Letty winced. She hated Volvo's and this one was too ugly to be one of Dom's friends'. They had taste after all. It looked more like a girl's car. Letty swallowed.  
  
It's fine, Letty told herself. You don't own him. You knew this day would come. He's eighteen after all! He's not into you THAT way. She had to keep telling herself these things. Act normal. She inhaled and turned the doorknob.  
  
She walked in and surveyed the hall. No one was there. But there were a pair of ugly black high heels, kicked in the corner next to Dom's boots. Letty shuddered. Another skank, she sighed. She probably wouldn't have minded as much if it were some nice girl, who actually covered most of her body, but the hoes from school just got under her skin. Letty shrugged and looked around the kitchen. No one there. No one in the living room either.  
  
Letty suddenly heard a squeak and looked up. She then inwardly groaned. They were in Dom's bedroom. There was a deep laugh, and then a high pitched giggle that drifted down the stairs. Letty grinded her teeth together and looked around angrily. She ran over to the door and slammed it shut, so forcefully that it almost flew off its hinges. Letty looked at the stairs and then walked into the kitchen, noticing how everything had suddenly gone quiet. She opened the fridge and took out a Corona. She hadn't told anyone, not even Dom, but she'd been sneaking them since two weeks after her father had died. She leaned against the counter and began sipping, as the sound of Dom's door opening sounded, and footsteps began down the stairs.  
  
Dom came down first, straightening his shirt and he was followed by an Asian girl. She had long black shiny hair, and she was a lot skinnier than Letty. She didn't have much in the way of curves though. She was wearing a very short black skirt and a red tank top, which she was tending to. Dom looked to the door and then to the kitchen and saw Letty. He seemed a bit unsure of how to play this off. Letty shrugged, might as well help him along.  
  
'Hey Dom.' She said in a mock casual tone. The girl whipped around, as she finally fixed her top, and smirked. Letty wanted to wipe that stupid smile off her face but maintained an unfazed expression. 'Hello...' Letty trailed off.  
  
'Mailin. Mailin Tran.' She said in a high, bouncy voice. She smiled and looked to Dom. 'And who's this little girl?' she said as if she thought Letty was some cute little child. Dom opened his mouth about to answer, when Letty cut in.  
  
'I'm Leticia Torretto. Dom's sister.' Letty said, drinking more of her Corona. She figured Mailin went to another school. But the name Tran sounded familiar. Dom stared at Letty, his mouth still open but Mailin seemed to accept her answer.  
  
'Well it was nice meeting you.' She said in a fake tone. She turned to Dom, her voice becoming soft, but still bouncy. 'Dominic, I'll see YOU later.' She gave him a small kiss on his lips and hopped down the last stair, and walked toward her shoes. After she'd slipped them on, and was out the door, Dom turned around and walked into the kitchen. A guilty look plastered on his face. Good, Letty thought, you should be ashamed.  
  
'They just keep getting younger and younger huh Dom. She sounded as if she were in preschool. What next? A sexy seven year old? A foxy five?' Letty said jokingly, trying to withhold the edge she wanted to add to her comment.  
  
'She's seventeen, Letty, that's two years older than you.' He said walking up next to her, grabbing her bottle, 'And when did you start drinking?' he asked, frowning slightly. Letty glared and snatched back the Corona.  
  
'First of all, you're not my father, so don't lecture me on drinking. Second of all, it's my birthday today, you ass whipped Neanderthal, so she's only one year older. Thanks for remembering.' With that, Letty pushed past Dom and stormed up the stairs to his/her room. She threw herself down on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling, sipping her Corona again. She stared for five minutes, before she heard footsteps out in the hall.  
  
'So you're a Torretto now huh?'  
  
'I guess. I'm still Letty Garcia, but I'm gonna stay here.' She said not breaking eye contact with the ceiling, her face hard and cold. She heard Dom come closer and felt the bed sag as he sat down on the edge.  
  
'I guess we should start fixing up the guest room.' He said with a sigh. Letty's eyebrow shot up.  
  
'You have a guest room? Why did I stay there?' she asked, still trying to maintain her angry face, though it was slowly starting to ebb away.  
  
'Because that would have meant cleaning it. And you don't understand what a shit pit it is. It looks like ground zero in there.' He paused, probably looking hopefully for some sign of acknowledgement from her. She didn't give him the benefit of one. He sighed again. 'Look, Lett, I'm sorry I didn't remember.' He said. 'Don't be mad.'  
  
'How can I not be?' Letty said, finally rolling over to look at him. 'And it's not so much that you didn't remember. It's just, you act like I'm such a kid! And now I'm legal and shit, and I'm still a kid. I'll never be good enough.' She finished, taking a deep breath and sipping her Corona again. She noticed Dom's eyebrow was raised. 'What?' she asked frowning.  
  
'Nothing. Just you talking about legal age and shit.' He said smirking. Letty glared.  
  
'Why? Don't you think I've done it before? Sex and shit like that? Just means now I can do it legally.' She finished off her Corona with a smirk at the look of horror on Dom's face. 'Oh come on Dom! You didn't think I was gonna be little virgin Letty forever, didja?' she smiled wider.  
  
'You're not a virgin?' he repeated. Letty laughed as she set the empty bottle on the side table.  
  
'Are you slow or somethin?' she asked, 'I popped the cherry months ago.' She said looking as if this was no big deal. Inwardly Letty was laughing her ass off. Of course she was still a virgin. Who would she have done it with? Shawn? He was the only guy who had ever seen her romantically. Well besides Bobby from last summer. But Letty could play it off that it was him that was 'the one'. She just liked watching Dom squirm.  
  
'Whatever.' Dom said trying to not look put off. Letty smiled and looked Dom over.  
  
'Does it... bother you Dom?' she said, trying to look seductive, stretched out on his bed, wearing tight black pants and a fitted blouse. She was going for the good girl look when she went to the hearing. Dom shook his head.  
  
'Naw. I mean, I'd be a hypocrite if I told you not to do anything.' He said matter-of-factly. Letty frowned. Okay, not exactly what she wanted him to answer with. But Dom continued. 'I mean, I've had so many women, if I told you it was wrong, I'd kind of be acting like a dick.' He smirked, and Letty knew he knew what she had been trying to do. She tried to kick him but he jumped up and practically ran for the door.  
  
'You ARE a dick, Torretto!' She yelled, throwing a pillow at him as he ran out into the hall. He reappeared and smiled.  
  
'You're a Torretto too now, remember!' he said before running down the hall. Letty let out a sigh and fell back across the bed. She was.  
  
Later that night, Tony and Mia came home with a big chocolate cake that read 'Happy Birthday Letty Torretto Garcia!' and there were a couple of gifts. To Letty's surprise, there was one from Dom.  
  
It was no big deal, he told her, it was a huge picture frame, with three different picture cases. In one there was a picture of Letty, Dom and Mia when Letty was ten. The second picture was of her and Dom when she was fourteen. The third was empty. Letty smiled and thanked him.  
  
Tony gave her, his old camera, which Letty supposed fit in with Dom's present. And Mia gave her some jewelry and a few of her old shirts. Letty thanked them all, telling them they were the best. She took a picture of all of them together and a few of them individually. After cake and a movie, Mia and Tony went to bed, too tired to stay up. Letty and Dom were left to finish off the rest of the cake.  
  
'So, you and Mailin huh?' Letty said finishing a slice of cake. Dom smiled.  
  
'Yeah I guess. We've been together a week.'  
  
'WOW! That must be an all time record or something!' Letty said in mock admiration. Dom smirked at her.  
  
'Ha ha Letty.' He said sipping a Corona. 'Very funny.'  
  
'I thought so. Mailin's kind of prissy though.' She said sipping her own Corona and taking another piece of cake. Dom raised an eyebrow.  
  
'How would you know? You've only met her once.' He said laughing. Letty smiled back.  
  
'Actually, I've met her before that. When me and Torynn went to Spanish school, she was at the Chinese end of the building. Her brother's a lot like you when I think about it.' Letty said sipping her beer. Dom smiled.  
  
'Johnny? Yeah, he's okay. He's all about cars and shit, but he's no where near my skills. Kind of a poser if you ask me.' Dom said finishing the last piece of cake. Letty muffled some laughter. 'What?'  
  
'Nothing. He asked me out when we were younger.' Letty said swallowing the last of her beer.  
  
'Really? When you were what? Five?' Dom said placing his dishes in the sink.  
  
'When I was thirteen. I turned him down though. He was running high off himself. All ego and no real personality. Kind of like you.' Letty said smirking to emphasize her joke. Dom sat back down.  
  
'So what's Mailin like then? In your opinion.' Dom said. Letty paused, gathering her memories and then put her fork down on her unfinished cake.  
  
'Well. As I remember it, she was really high maintenance. Always whining about something. Really into gossiping and stabbing people in the back.' Letty leaned back. 'She was pretty good at tennis too.' Dom grinned.  
  
'That's Mai alright.' He said taking Letty's plate and scraping the contents into the garbage. 'She's hot though.' He said, and Letty rolled her eyes.  
  
'How observant. I really hope I can find a guy as deep as you someday Dom.' Letty said with a snicker. Dom grinned again.  
  
'Damn straight. So when are you coming back to school?' he said leaning against the counter. Letty shrugged.  
  
'I almost wanna drop out.' She said. 'BUT!' she put in before Dom could attack her about the value of education. 'But, I know I can't. So probably next week. I'll have to study through summer to pass.' She sighed.  
  
'Oh yeah, Yates gave this to Mia yesterday, said she wanted you to read it ASAP.' He handed Letty a thin envelope. Letty frowned as she stared at it and ripped it open, removing the pristine contents and reading it.  
  
'Well?' Dom asked impatiently after waiting five minutes, 'What does it say?' Letty looked up as she threw it onto the table.  
  
'Not much.' She said looking nonchalant. 'Stuff about this private prep school wanting to accept me.' Dom's eyebrows raised. 'I'm not going though. I told Yates I didn't want to.'  
  
'Lett, this is huge! You can't throw an opportunity like this away! You've gotta go.' Dom said sitting down across from her. Letty shrugged. 'Come on Lett, I've always known you were a smart girl, now you can prove it to everyone else. And plus, you get a uniform!' he said as his eyes swept over the letter in his hand. Letty snatched it back and glared as he laughed. 'Come on, it's a turn on.' He said getting up.  
  
'Yeah, yeah.' She looked back at the paper. Dom smiled.  
  
'Look Lett. Just think about it.' He said softly as he walked over to the stairs. She sighed.  
  
'Alright Dom, but only for you.' She said smiling.  
  
'Don't do it for me Letty. Do it for you.' He said as he walked up the stairs. Letty watched the spot he had been for what seemed like an eternity. She hated how he made her love him. 


	9. Forbidden Fruit

The next two weeks practically flew by. Letty came back to school, walking down the hall as if all was normal. She noticed how people would look at her and then scurry up to their friends, whispering, staring, skirting her as if she were diseased or something. Only her closer friends knew what was going on. To everyone else she just kept a stony face.  
  
The first day she was back, she remembered walking to her locker, where Nikki and Vince and Edwin and Torynn were already standing. They looked at her as if unsure of what to do, and then Vince walked up to her and wrapped her in a big bear hug. Letty almost melted. She loved Vince. Not like she loved anyone else. More like as a brother and a best friend. After he pulled away, everyone else followed suit. They were the only ones at school who knew the truth about Letty's injury, her father's death, and her mother's arrest. And they didn't tell anyone, which made Letty feel even closer to them all.  
  
Dom wouldn't let her out of his sight. It was odd. Shop was the only class they had together, but he would show up in between her classes and walk her to whatever class she had next. He sat with her at lunch, despite the pleading of Mailin Tran. She had apparently transferred in while Letty was at home. She seemed a little taken aback when she was told Letty wasn't actually Dom's sister. 'What's she doing at your house then?' she would ask. She definitely didn't trust Letty after that, and would often throw her taunting looks when she was around Dom.  
  
School was a blur. Letty knew she would scrape by though. It was almost summer and her guidance councilor told her that she didn't have to do school work for the summer. But she did have to complete a specialized reading list, which she would be tested on in the fall. Letty shrugged. No biggie.  
  
About a week before summer break was the big formal at their high school. All the girls were looking forward to it, making big plans for their hair and their nails, and what they would wear, and who was going with who. Mia was going with Ray Hunt, who had ditched Shawn as a friend after Mia had told him about what he did to Letty. Ray was actually pretty chill. Nikki and Vince were going together and Torynn was going with Edwin (why, Letty wasn't sure of, but according to Tor, Edwin wasn't to hard on the eyes). Meanwhile Dom was going with Mailin. Letty grimaced. Figures.  
  
It was a week before the big formal and Letty still didn't have a date. Not that she really cared. If it weren't for Mia and Nikki, she wouldn't have a dress, jewelry or a hair appointment either. She didn't really care. It was the social event of the season, but Letty wasn't really big into that kind of thing anyway.  
  
Mia had decided on a creamy white colored gown with no straps. She picked out a silver necklace with a large black stone hanging from it. She was going to put Letty's hair up in a loose bun and let little pieces stream down.  
  
Letty decided it sounded okay and just went back to not really caring.  
  
Mia looked across the table, to Letty who was reading Hitler's Pope, and stood up. Letty loked up at her and put the book down with a sigh.  
  
'Who is he?' letty said, rubbing her forehead. Mia smiled.  
  
'I don't know what you're talking about?'  
  
'Come on Mia, I know what you're thinking..'  
  
'No you don't!' Mia laughed. Letty got up and walked over to Mia and merely stared her straight in the eye. Mia gasped and put her hand to her mouth. 'Oh my god, you do!'  
  
'So what's his name, and what's his problem?' Letty said sitting back down with a sigh. Mia's eyebrow rose at this.  
  
'Problem?' Mia smirked.  
  
'You know, what's wrong with him?' Letty said waving her hand carelessly. 'Does he have a lisp? Does he sing country? Does he eat chalk?' Mia's eyebrow rose higher. 'Remember Danny Miller in the third grade! Had to go to the hospital to get his stomach pumped!'  
  
'Okay, okay, but come on, just because he was misguided, doesn't mean he's such a bad guy!' Mia said raising her hands in the air, before placing her glass in the sink.  
  
'Oh my god... You wanna set me up with Danny Miller...' Letty said looking at Mia as if she were crazy. Mia leaned against the counter and shrugged. 'Are you insane?'  
  
'Letty, Torynn suggested him, says he's really hot now!' Mia said walking back over to her chair.  
  
'Who's hot?' Dom asked as he walked into the kitchen carrying an empty beer bottle.  
  
'Danny Miller, apparently.' Letty said shaking her head. Dom looked up from the cupboard.  
  
'The chalk eater?' he said, astounded. Letty nodded and looked to Mia as if to say I-Told-You-So! Mia shook her head.  
  
'Okay, well maybe that chalk did him some good!' she said as she got up. 'Come on Lett! You haven't got a date and it's only a few days away!' Mia said walking over to Letty's side. Letty crossed her arms and stared at the floor. She then sighed.  
  
'What time can he pick me up?' she said rubbing her forehead. Mia smiled.  
  
'I'll go call Tori, she'll talk to him.' Mia said as she ran up the stairs to her room. Letty let out another deep breath and walked over to the fridge, grabbing a beer. Dom was leaning against the counter, smirking at her.  
  
'What?' she asked, highly irritated by his amusement. He shrugged.  
  
'You. Going with chalk boy.' He said shaking slightly with laughter. Letty glared at him.  
  
'Well not all of us can be as lucky as Tran.' She said wandering over to the couch. Then suddenly she stopped. Dom frowned.  
  
'What now?' he asked sitting next to her.  
  
'That's it!' Letty said jumping up and running upstairs. 'MIA! GET OFF THE PHONE!'  
  
'What? Why?' Mia asked as she was dialing. Letty grabbed it from her and slammed it down. 'Have you gone crazy?! I was about to call Tor!'  
  
'I'm not going with Miller!' Letty said running into Dom's room, shortly followed by Mia and Dom, both looking at her curiously. 'Dom, where's your address book?'  
  
'In that drawer? Why? There aren't any guy names in there.' Dom said frowning as Letty rummaged around in his desk drawer. 'Unless there's something you haven't told us...' Letty pushed past him, throwing herself onto the bed and grabbing his phone. She flipped threw the pages and finally stopped at the T's. She began dialing and waited. Mia sat down on the edge of the bed, her mouth slightly open, while Dom leaned against the doorframe, both watching Letty closely. Finally she smiled.  
  
'Hi, is Johnny there?' Letty said watching Dom. He frowned and stood up and waved his hands to get her attention. 'Hold on a second. What?'  
  
'What the fuck are you doing?' he asked sitting next to her. She smiled.  
  
'I'ma catching me a date! What does it look like?' she said keeping her ear to the receiver. He shook his head.  
  
'I thought we agreed that Johnny is a wannabe egotistical poser!' Dom said as Mia nodded in agreement. Letty shrugged.  
  
'Hey, he's better than chalk boy, and he's pretty cute. Besides at least I can talk to him about cars and shit...' Letty trailed off as she took her hand of the mouth piece. 'Oh, hey Johnny... It's Letty...I was wondering if you have a date to the dance at my high school?...oh...that's okay...really you don't have to... really?...okay then...pick me up at seven?...actually I'll see you at your house...okay, great! Bye!' Letty hung up, smiling. Dom and Mia just stared.  
  
'Letty, how are you gonna get to his house?' Mia said, finally breaking the silence. Letty smiled and grabbed Dom's hand.  
  
'You'll give me a ride, right?' she said giving him her best puppy dog look. He seemed to squirm and then...  
  
'Alright, but you owe me, BIG TIME.' He said getting up. Letty smiled and launched herself at him.  
  
'THANK YOU!' she said hugging him tightly. Dom went rigid, then relaxed and hugged her close, breathing in the smell of Herbal Essenses and Letty's own personal smell of Thyme and Jasmine. Letty suddenly pulled back, too soon for Dom's liking.  
  
'Okay, let's see this dress of mine, huh Mi?' she said hopping down from Dom's bed. Mia giggled and led Letty out into the hall, leaving Dom to sit on his bed. Once they were out of earshot, Dom let out an audible sigh and fell back on his bed, staring up at his ceiling. Then he realized something. Something small, but noticeable. His room no longer just smelled of his wintry aftershave, but of Letty. He breathed deep, inhaling the smell of himself and Letty. He liked how they mingled together, and all he could think of was holding her, hugging her, kissing her. Dom's eyes snapped open. Kissing Letty. Something forbidden. Something he wanted. Something he needed. How he wanted to just grab her and push her up against the wall of his room, to hold her down on the surface of his desk and kiss her until there was nothing left in him.  
  
Dom shook his head and sat up. He needed to get laid. This was something he, Dominic Torretto, shouldn't be thinking about. 


	10. Don't Look Back

'Letty come on!' Dom yelled as he looked down at his watch. It was already six thirty, and he needed to pick Mailin up at seven. The doorbell rang, and Mia came running down the stairs, carrying a pair of red strappy sandals, wearing a red gown. She swept past Dom and winked at him as she opened the door and greeted Ray.  
  
'LETTY, COME ON!' Dom roared up the stairs.  
  
'Alright, alright!' she yelled back as she stumbled down the stairs in a long black coat. Dom was disappointed. He wanted to see her sexy little body in that cream dress Mia had shown him. Her hair was up in a loose up do, which drove Dom crazy. He wanted to run his hands threw her hair, pull it down, and see her look natural and beautiful. Her eyes were sparkly and a natural sort of shade, with some eyeliner. Her lips were a lush peachy pink color that made them look large and pouty. Dom gawked. Mia had out done herself on this masterpiece. Letty looked at him and actually blushed.  
  
'What?' she said slipping on her cream sandals. Dom shook himself.  
  
'Nothing.' He said. She looked a little let down by his comment. 'You look good.' He said sincerely. She smiled a pearly white grin.  
  
'Thanks. You look pretty good yourself.' She said surveying him in his tux. 'But wait.' She said walking over to the roses in a vase in the hall. She pulled off the top of one and walked over to Dom, putting it in his pocket.  
  
'Thanks.' He said putting out his arm for her to take. They walked out to his truck and got in. They began driving in silence, Letty looking out the window, watching the pedestrians.  
  
'Did I tell you?' Dom said suddenly pulling her attention away from the little old lady slapping a teenage bag boy. 'Dad's in a big race this weekend. All the way out at Palmdale.' Letty smiled.  
  
'That's awesome!' she said grinning at Dom. He smiled back.  
  
'Yeah.' He said as they pulled into China Town. 'He's taking me and Mia. We can't take you though.' Dom said trailing off. Letty smiled.  
  
'It's okay. I'll cheer for him here.' She said as they pulled up to a Chinese restaurant. Dom got out and Letty climbed into the back, as he ran inside. He emerged five minutes later, with Mailin on his arm and Johnny following them. Mailin was wearing a pink satin skin tight gown, with a plunging neckline. Letty scoffed as she saw Dom laugh. Johnny opened the door and climbed in.  
  
'Figures you'd be late. I had to talk with my parents waiting for you...' Mailin complained as they climbed into the front seats, Dom putting the key in the ignition.  
  
'Hey there gorgeous.' Johnny said kissing her cheek. Letty smiled, as she saw Dom frown at Johnny's forward action. Letty decided to play it off.  
  
'You're looking pretty sexy yo self.' She said surveying Johnny in his tux. She lent forward and kissed him lightly on the lips. But before she had time to do much else, Dom cleared his throat.  
  
'Keep your hands off each other in my car, thanks.' He said as he began to pull out of the parking lot. Mailin laid a hand on his arm.  
  
'Oh come on Dommy, it's kind of cute.' She said in her sugary voice. Letty felt like she could have growled at her. But then she smiled.  
  
'Yeah Dom. We're just being cute.' She said as she moved closer to Johnny, who was definitely not protesting her forward actions. She leaned into him and kissed him again, a little harder. She added a moan for good effect, opening her mouth a bit so that his tongue could sweep in. But suddenly they braked, rather abruptly. Letty smiled as she leaned back to put her head on Johnny's shoulder. Take that Dom.  
  
After about fifteen minutes, they pulled up to the school, kids getting out of their cars and walking up to the front doors in glam gowns and sexy tuxedos. It was pretty swanky. Letty, for the first time, felt self- conscious.  
  
They parked and got out of the car, walking separately up to the school, Mailin all over Dom, kissing him, groping him. Letty felt like she wanted to throw something at her. But considering she was out with Mai's brother, someone Dom could barely stand, she felt she was getting her revenge.  
  
They got inside and the gymnasium was all decorated in signs and lights. There were tables everywhere with white cloths and dining ware on them. Nikki waved them over and Letty led Johnny over to the table. Nikki was wearing a green sequined number and Torynn was wearing a black satin gown. The boys were huddled around talking about dates and cars. Johnny excused himself and walked over to his crew's table, leaving Letty to talk with Mia, Nikki and Tori.  
  
'Ew, Grace is here with Kevin! Bad choice! Oh well, at least his dandruff will glow with the black light, so she won't lose him!' Nikki said pointing out onto the dance floor.  
  
'And Dom came with Mailin! Guess he just wants a lay, that's about all she's good for..' Mia said sitting back and watching her brother talking with Mailin in the corner. Letty sighed. Tori blinked.  
  
'What's wrong girl?' she asked, crossing her arm. Letty shook her head.  
  
'Nothing... it's just...' Letty trailed off.  
  
'Yeah...' Tori said waving her hand.  
  
'I feel kind of stupid, cause I'm a... virgin.' Letty said quietly. Nikki laughed, Tori shook her head, and Mia covered her mouth as if she were about to laugh.  
  
'Girl, that's nothing to be ashamed about! It's actually pretty cool!' Nikki said. Tori nodded.  
  
'Yeah! I mean, Mia's a cherry too!'  
  
'HEY!' Mia protested.  
  
'Sorry Mi, but you know its true!' Nikki said shrugging. Letty smiled.  
  
'You're not going to do it with Vince are you?' Letty said with a smirk. Nikki grinned and checked to see that no one was around them, then leaned forward.  
  
'Already have.' She said giggling. 'About a week ago. Came to see him and he was in his garage working...' She then started to laugh even harder, while the other girls just shook their heads.  
  
'Oh my god.' Letty laughed. She then turned to Tori. 'You haven't... with Edwin..have you?' she asked the blonde. Tori shook her head.  
  
'Naw, not yet. But he told me that he got a hotel room so...' she trailed off. Nikki snorted.  
  
'A hotel room! Just give me a bottle of vodka and lead me to the Geography room and that's all the romance I need!' she said laughing.  
  
'Yeah, that's all the romance you'll get with Vince!' Mia said, giggling. 'Well maybe half a bottle of vodka...' All four girls started to laugh.  
  
'Hey, are we gonna dance, or are ya'll gonna sit there and look pretty all night?' Edwin asked holding out his hand to Tori. She smirked and took it.  
  
'Well you sure do have a way with words Edwin.' She said as he pulled her closer.  
  
'You know it baby.' He grinned at her and led her out onto the dance floor. Soon, Ray and Vince had come to claim their dates too, and Letty was left all alone.  
  
'Hey Lett.' She turned and looked up at Dom, as he smiled down at her, his large hands buried in his pockets. She smiled back and then looked around, her smile fading a bit.  
  
'Where's Mailin?' she asked looking back up at Dom. He shrugged and rolled his eyes.  
  
'Off with her friends, too busy talking about how hot I am to actually dance with me.' He said with a grin. Letty rolled her eyes. 'I was hoping you'd be in a dancing mood.' He said looking down at the ground. Letty couldn't help it. For a split second Dom looked shy, vulnerable and sweet. How could she say no?  
  
'You know me.' She said standing up. 'I love to dance.' She was about to walk out onto the dance floor, when Dom grabbed her arm and lightly pulled her back. She frowned. 'What?' He smirked.  
  
'You're still wearing your coat.' He said looking her up and down. She smiled, slightly embarrassed and slipped it off, throwing it onto her chair. She turned back around to face Dom and saw him looking her up and down. She felt herself blush when he licked his lips. He finally managed to pull himself together enough to offer her his hand and lead her out onto the dance floor.  
  
Once they were in the very middle of the crowd of people, he swung around and pulled Letty into him, holding her close to his chest. His arms took hers and led them up to his neck and then he let his hands slide all the way down from her arms to her waist. Letty was too busy staring at him with hidden adoring to notice that Mailin was glaring at them. Johnny was off chatting up a couple of brunette sluts, not noticing.  
  
Dom smiled down at her as they moved to the slow rhythm of 'Because I Love You' by Stevie B. Dom smiled down at her, his eyes locked with hers, losing himself in her chocolate brown eyes. It was as if no one else were in the room. In the universe. They just swayed together, a perfect fit with each other.  
  
Letty didn't know why she was blushing so much. She'd been this close with Dom before. But not so openly. So lovingly. Her eyes became heavy and she rested her head against his chest, breathing deep and pulling herself even closer to him. How was it possibly for him, or anyone else for that matter, to miss how completely and deeply in love she was with this man? Not even a blind man could miss it. She needed him, wanted him, was desperate for him. He was like a drug that she was addicted to. He was too good to be legal.  
  
Dom felt Letty pull him closer, as if he were just a dream that she needed to know was real. He tightened his grip on her closed his eyes as the song began its final stretch. He wished it wouldn't end. He wished Mailin wasn't waiting for him, that Johnny wasn't waiting for her, that nobody mattered, not the crew or the dance. He wanted to be there, with her, holding her. That was all. It was the most simple thing he'd ever wanted, and yet he was so sure that it was right. And then his eyes opened. No.  
  
Letty felt Dom pull away from her. She looked up as he stepped back, his eyes closed. Her eyes searched his face for an answer to why he had suddenly pulled away from her. He exhaled deeply and looked up at her, obviously seeing her questioning expression.  
  
'Lett, we need to talk.' He said softly, as the song drew to a close. Letty frowned but nodded, as he took her hand and led her out of the gym and into the hall. They passed a few couples who were making out, hot and heavy, and for a moment Letty wondered if Dom was going to just grab her and kiss her. But they continued down the hall until the walked outside onto the front steps of the school. He stopped and dropped her hands, walking over to the other side of the space, breathing deep and rubbing the back of his neck.  
  
'What is it Dom?' she asked, her voice desperate for an answer to his behavior. He turned and came closer to her. He leaned down, so that they were only inches apart, almost no room to breathe. Letty's breath hitched. 'Dom?'  
  
'Shhh...' he cooed as he closed the space between them. His lips came down to hers and Letty felt as though fireworks should have been exploding in the sky and the band should start playing. His lips were so soft against hers, massaging them so that they began to relax. Letty's eyes closed gently and she placed her small hands on his warm chest, as his hands came up to cradle her lower back. His tongue swept over her lower lip, and he pulled away, backing away from her, looking as though he'd just committed a crime.  
  
'Listen, Letty... this is hard to explain...' He paced the small area, looking as though he was fighting with himself. Finally, he walked closer to her again. 'You have feelings for me, right?' he said leaning down to look into her eyes, taking her hands again. She blushed and licked her lips, her throat suddenly feeling dry. Then she nodded. He sighed. 'And I have feelings for you.' She looked up, her big brown eyes looking so full of joy and hope.  
  
'You do?' she said disbelievingly. He nodded. She smiled, breathing deeply, as if Christmas had come early.  
  
'But.' He said quickly, and her smile quickly began to fade. 'But we can't be.' He let go of her hands again. 'We can't be together because you're too young.' He paused when she didn't say anything. 'We're great friends right Lett. But sometimes that's not enough. I'm going home with Mailin tonight. Because that's how it's supposed to be.' He stopped again, as her eyes flickered over his face, her face one of shock. He could practically pinpoint the moment that her heart had been crushed. Then, suddenly she frowned and her lips tightened. And she raised her hand and slapped him.  
  
'How fuckin dare you Torretto!' she screamed, backing away from him as he cradled his cheek, looking at her sorrowfully. 'You...you fuckin bastard. Telling me you feel something. And then...' her voice broke as she wrapped her arms around herself. Dom moved closer but she stuck her hand out in front of her. 'Don't fuckin touch me Dom.' She said simply before she turned and walked down the front steps.  
  
'LETTY!' Dom yelled as she continued to walk away.  
  
'DON'T TALK TO ME DOM!' she shouted back as she began walking toward the park. Beyond that park was the beach, the one place Letty felt free. She quickened her pace, praying Dom wouldn't be following her. When she got to the bridge that led to the beach, she reached down and pulled off her sandals and threw them as far as she could. She ran down the rickety wooden steps, pulling her hand threw her hair, pulling her bun out so that her wavy black hair fell down over her shoulders and then blew with the breeze that carried along with the waves crashing on the shore. Letty crossed her arms again, walking down the beach, staring out into the blackness beyond the water.  
  
What was he playing at? He felt something, and she most definitely felt something, so why was he being so unfair? Sure, Letty thought, he's being noble and all that bull. But didn't he realize he wasn't the only one being affected by his decision?  
  
About ten minutes after deciding, yet again, that life was unfair, Letty heard a familiar yell. She didn't bother to turn around, just sat down on the soft white sand that was cool from the night air. Finally she heard heavy breathing and looked up to see Mia, followed closely by Nikki and Tori. They all stayed quiet for a few minutes and finally Mia sat down and put her hand on Letty's back.  
  
'We heard what Dom said.' She said softly, almost quiet enough to be lost in the sounds of the crashing waves. Letty didn't respond. Mia sighed and wrapped her arms around Letty's bare shoulders. 'I am so sorry, Lett.' She said quietly as she clutched Letty to her chest.  
  
'So am I.' Letty said as her eyes began to water. 'I can't live at your house anymore.' Mia looked up, her eyes now full of tears as well.  
  
'What?' she asked, her eyes large and disbelieving. Silent tears streamed down Letty's cheeks as she stared unblinkingly out at the dark water.  
  
'I can't live with you. I'm sorry.' And with that, Letty lightly pushed Mia away, out of her embrace, and got up, passing her other two speechless companions. Mia just stared at the sand where Letty had been sitting, searching her mind for why her best friend would leave. She turned and saw Letty begin walking toward the bridge.  
  
'Letty WAIT!' she called after her. But Letty didn't even look back. She just kept walking. 'LETTY! DON'T LEAVE ME!' Mia screamed, feeling herself sob openly. Because of her stupid half-baked brother, she had just lost the best friend she'd ever have. The closest thing to a sister.  
  
But Letty kept walking. She didn't know where she would go. And for once, she didn't mind being alone.  
  
I know that u are all crying right about now.. Thinking how could she string us along for so long and then just when they're clicking, I break them apart. The answer is, I HAVE THE POWER! Hahaha.. Anyway, you know me, angst is my middle name! So now I have to fix this up.. Hope you all enjoy and remember to review! Love ya'll!  
  
~*~ S.T.O.K.E.L.Y. ~*~  
  
Oh yeah, and I used a picture of Letty as inspiration, so if you wanna check it out, here's the address and I got it from the good people of the Michelle Rodriguez Underground. Check it out it's an awesome site! Michelle Underground Picture I Used 


	11. Stay True to Myself

'You can stay in here.' Tori said, pushing her guestroom door open. Letty entered, carrying a cardboard box full of clothes and the things she would need for the week. The room was neat and tidy, with a large bed and it didn't smell like Dom. Perfect, Letty thought as she dropped her things on the bouncy bed.  
  
'Thanks a lot Tor.' Letty said sitting down on the bed and looking over at the strange lamp. Torynn smiled and leaned against the doorframe.  
  
'No problem.' She said watching her friend. 'You need anything, my room's downstairs to your left.'  
  
'Torynn, venga aquí y como su cena!' Martina, Torynn's older sister yelled from downstairs. Tori shook her head and turned to yell back.  
  
'I'M NOT HUNGRY!' she yelled back, and Letty smiled.  
  
'You get down here right now, pequeño Diablo, or I'll tell Papi!' Martina shouted. Tori sighed.  
  
'You gonna be okay up here?' she asked. Letty nodded, and Tori turned and closed the door. Letty let out a huge sigh and fell back on her bed. How did she get here?  
  
She'd walked for miles down the streets, her hair messy, her feet bare and her cheeks stained with tears. She'd walked for what seemed like forever, before Tony found her, wandering the market alone. He'd been picking up groceries and when he saw her, he nearly had a heart attack.  
  
They'd talked nearly the entire night. And even then she hadn't given up hope on Dom. Mia came home and went straight her room, not even looking at Letty, and still Letty didn't chase her. She still cared for Dom. If he came home that night, she'd know he cared for her. But he didn't. At two a.m. Tony finally said she had to go get some rest. She told him she wanted to leave, that staying with them was wonderful and painful at the same time. She wanted to live somewhere else. She had to or it would kill her.  
  
'I'll send you to one of your friend's houses. Just think about it Leticia.' Tony said, rubbing his neck, obviously under a lot of strain. Here he had a daughter who was heart broken, Letty who wanted to leave desperately, and a son who was god knows where. He also had the big race coming up this Saturday, which was bearing down on him all too quickly. So Letty decided she would respect his wishes and simply stay at Nikki's or Torynn's.  
  
She woke up the next morning to hear the frontdoor close. She looked to Dom's alarm clock, which read 4:30 a.m. She slipped out of bed quietly and crept down the stairs, her nerves buzzing at what she was about to find. She peaked around the corner to look into the kitchen, where Dom was standing, leaning over the table, still in his tux, though it looked a bit disheveled. Letty's eyes began to water again, but she blinked the tears back and marched up the stairs.  
  
Five minutes later, she came bounding down the stairs, with a large sports bag with clothes crammed into it and almost dove at her shoes, trying desperately to get out of there as quickly as possible. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a baggy sweatshirt, the kind of clothes she used to wear before Dom messed up her life. She'd managed to lace up her left trainer when she felt movement behind her. She couldn't help turning around and looking at Dom, who was holding a Corona, staring at her, frowning slightly.  
  
'Letty...what are you doing?' he asked in a gruff, deep, throaty voice. Letty looked back to her right sneaker and began lacing it up.  
  
'I don't live here anymore.' She said quietly, though she knew he could hear her. She was about to continue when she heard glass break and felt cold liquid spray her back. She looked up at Dom, who was staring at her, his eyes dark, the Corona now on the floor.  
  
'What are you talking about?' he asked urgently. Letty got up, staring at the floor, averting eye contact.  
  
'I...I don't live here anymore Dom. I can't.' she said, her voice on the verge of breaking. Dammit, she thought, I can't even be mad at him. That's not right. 'This is who I am.' She said motioning to herself. 'Coming here, living here, changing my looks, being with you. It was all a mistake.'  
  
'But it wasn't! Letty I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean what I said, I didn't mean to hurt you so much!' he said grabbing her arms and shaking her so that she would look up at him. 'I can't lose you.' He said looking at her with the most sincere look she'd ever seen. She frowned, her pride getting the better of her. She broke away from him and picked up her bag.  
  
'You never had me Dom. Not really.' She said trying to keep her voice icy.  
  
'It's not what you think!' he said motioning to his wardrobe. Yeah right, Letty thought, Mailin just happened to undress you so you could come home and knit with her until 4 in the morning? Letty shook her head at him and breathed in deeply.  
  
'I'll be back to get the rest of my stuff later.' She said before turning toward the door and walking to it.  
  
'Letty.' She stopped and turned to look at him. 'Please. Don't go.' He said, his brows creased, and if he were any less a man, he might have cried. Letty grimaced. She didn't want to hurt him. Not really. But this was what she had to do.  
  
'I'm sorry Dom.' She said before opening the door and walking down the front steps out onto the road. She was free again. And yet it felt so awful. But this was what she'd wanted, right?  
  
Letty looked around her new room and silently cursed it. It wasn't big like Dom's room. It wasn't posted with pictures of cars. It didn't smell like the wintry aftershave she'd come to love. It was freezing cold. It was dark. It wasn't her real home.  
  
She wanted so badly to forgive him and run back to him, love him like she wanted to. But her pride wouldn't let her.  
  
Letty sighed and got up walking over to her door and opening it, walking down the stairs and into the Diego kitchen. Seven pairs of eyes automatically swung to her as she entered. Tori got up and walked to Letty's side.  
  
'What's wrong?' she asked, 'Do you need anything?' Letty smiled.  
  
'No, I'm just hungry.' Letty said patting her stomach. Tori smiled and pointed to an empty chair and walked over to the counter and began pulling out plates and glasses. Letty sat across from Torynn's dad, Marco. Tori had a big family. Three sisters, Martina (20), Sydney (11) and Chaka (5). And one brother, Marco Jr (10). Letty didn't know how they all got along, but they seemed to get by.  
  
Martina was a lawyer and their father sold cars at a local dealership. Everyone except for Torynn went to the local Spanish school a few blocks down from their house. Their mother was dead, and the family was almost always fighting and yet at times they seemed so together. The way Letty had always wanted her family to be.  
  
'So, Leticia, you must be excited for summer.' Marco said in a loud, rounded voice, his Spanish accent very obvious. He, Martina and Torynn were the only ones who spoke English and even then, only Torynn and Martina could speak it well. Letty only nodded. Torynn walked over and placed a plate of chicken and potato in front of Letty and then sat next to her.  
  
'Letty.' Little Chaka piped up. 'Dónde vive usted?' she said waving her little fork around. (Where do you live?) Letty grimaced.  
  
'No sé.' Letty replied (I don't know). She began playing with her food, her mind else where, as the Diegos began talking in rapid Spanish about the summer. All Letty could think about right now was Palmdale, Dom speeding toward his father's race, farther and farther away from her.  
  
'Actually I think I'll just go to bed.' Letty said pushing her plate away and getting up. 'I'm not very hungry.' Tori frowned.  
  
'But Lett, it's only nine o'clock! Tony said he'd call you after his race to tell you how it went.' Letty shrugged.  
  
'I'm sure he did fine.' She said as she walked out of the kitchen. She walked lazily up the stairs and fell across her bed, willing herself to fall asleep. About ten minutes later, Letty heard Martina walk into her room next door and turn on her radio. Letty listened as the Canadian pop star sang away, and slowly drifted to sleep.  
  
I remember the days when I was so eager to satisfy you  
  
And be less then I was just to prove I could walk beside you  
  
Now that I've flown away I see you've chosen to stay behind me  
  
And still you curse the day I decided to stay true to myself  
  
~ Nelly Furtado, 'On The Radio'  
  
Letty rolled over and felt a sharp stabbing pain in her stomach. Her eyes squinted open as she heard her stomach rumble, and she sighed. I guess skipping dinner wasn't the smartest thing, Letty thought to herself. She sat up and felt chilled in only her tee shirt and boxers and woolly socks. She shook her head, and pushed her blankets back, looking to the alarm clock. It read seven forty am. Letty frowned and looked out her window, the skies clouded over with gray. Guess its not going to be a particularly good day. She shrugged and got up, stretching, praying Torynn wasn't cooking breakfast otherwise she could look forward to food poisoning as well as a crappy day.  
  
She crept down the stairs and practically tip toed into the kitchen. She saw Martina sitting across from Sydney who was talking so fast, Letty couldn't understand a word she was saying.  
  
'What's up?' Letty asked, noticing how they both immediately stopped talking as she entered. Martina cleared her throat and Sydney got up and scurried out of the room, chancing a backwards glance at Letty.  
  
'Letty, please sit down.' Letty froze. She hated when people said that. It was always a signal that something bad had happened. Whenever she'd been in trouble for fighting, when her mother had done something wrong, when her father died... no, Letty did not like it when people said that.  
  
'What happened?' Letty asked softly as she sat down across from Martina. She sighed and clenched her hands together.  
  
'I don't know how to say this really.' Martina said, her voice trailing a little. 'But Mia Torretto called.' Letty smiled. Mia, probably wants me to come home with them on Monday.  
  
'Did she leave a number?' Letty asked with a sigh. Martina's face grew grave, and Letty frowned. Martina was only twenty and yet she looked years older, her eyebrows set in a frown and creases forming all over her face.  
  
'She's at the police station.' Letty frowned. 'With her brother. There was a car accident.' Letty shook her head, disbelievingly. Flashes of her father's dead body began forming in her head at the word car accident. How could this happen? So soon after...  
  
'Are they alright? Are they hurt?' Letty asked, speaking quickly, almost hysterically. 'They aren't hurt or anything? How's Dom?' She kept throwing questions until Martina raised a hand.  
  
'They are both fine. However the social services worker will be coming to pick you up soon...'  
  
'Social services worker?' Letty repeated, her eyebrows contracting. 'What social service worker?' Martina sighed.  
  
'Letty, what I am saying, is Mr. Torretto is dead.' Letty stared at her, a ringing suddenly filling her ears, but Martina continued. 'You now do not have a legal guardian. Which means, you are going to be taken to an orphanage, where hopefully, someone will adopt you...'  
  
'Dom can take care of me. He's eighteen.' Letty said in an almost breathless voice. Tony was gone. Just like her father. But Letty didn't cry, she just sat across from Martina in shock.  
  
'If he is to take care of you, he'll have to be seen as fit by a judge.' Martina said, folding her arms and trying to read Letty's emotions. 'I'm sorry Letty.'  
  
As if on cue, the doorbell rang. Letty didn't even look up, as Martina sighed and walked to the front door, leaving Letty to stare at an empty chair. Once again her life was being drastically changed.  
  
'Letty?' Torynn asked as she entered wearing her pajamas, Sydney and Marco Jr hiding behind her. When the front door slammed Marco and Sydney ran back to their rooms, but Torynn stayed. Suddenly Martina came back in, a short old woman dressed in brown with short white hair right behind her. Torynn looked at Letty, a confused look on her face.  
  
'Are you ready to go?' the woman in brown asked, bending slightly as if Letty were a tiny child. Letty looked up and shook her head.  
  
'I need to get dressed.' Letty said in an almost monotone voice. The woman nodded, and Martina put on some coffee while Torynn continued to stare. Letty got up and shuffled toward the stairs, but she could hear loud voices in the kitchen speaking Spanish as she changed into her clothes.  
  
'What's going on?' Torynn said loudly, though the social worker couldn't understand her. 'Where is she going?'  
  
'Letty is going to go see if she can get adopted.' Martina said, in a firm voice.  
  
'What?! I don't understand! I thought she was going back to the Torretto's next weekend! I thought they were just taking a ... a break!' Torynn said, her voice still loud enough so that Letty could hear.  
  
'Mr. Torretto is dead.' There was silence. Letty crept back down the stairs, fully clothed in a pair of tight jeans and a huge gray brown baggy sweater from Baby G, but she wanted to hear what Tori would say next.  
  
'How?' Torynn asked in a small voice. Martina sighed.  
  
'Racing. Okay Tori? He was racing and he went into the wall! This is why mom never wanted you to be so into cars!' Martina shouted, her voice echoing through the house. Letty could see Marco, Sydney and Chaka all sitting behind a desk listening to their sisters fight.  
  
'Don't talk about mom!' Torynn screamed. 'Don't ever talk about her!' Again there was silence. Letty felt bad for listening. Torynn was very sensitive about her mother, who had committed suicide two years ago. 'Does Letty have to go?' Tori asked, this time in English, so the Social worker could answer.  
  
'I'm afraid so. She has no family, no legal guardian.' The woman asked in a raspy deep voice. Letty shut her eyes, as if she wanted to wake up from a horrible dream.  
  
'But what about Dominic?! He could take care of her! He's old enough!' Torynn said, as if desperate. Letty couldn't stand anymore. She suddenly bound down the stairs and stopped in front of the table.  
  
'I want to go now.' She said looking at Tori. Tori opened her mouth to say something but Martina shook her head violently. Letty sighed. 'I want to go.' The woman nodded and got up, handing her mug to Martina.  
  
'Thank you for your hospitality.' She said shortly before leading Letty to the front door and then to her beat up old Chevy. Letty got in and the smell of Febreeze and cats filled her nostrils. The woman got in and started the car, the engine emitting a sickening rattle.  
  
'First we're going to take you to the police station, so that the Torrettos and the police know that we've collected you.' She said as they pulled onto a main road. Letty nodded, but it was more for herself than for the woman. 'I am Mrs. Breech, and I'm going to make sure you will be alright.' Letty nodded again. 'Now we will only be stopping for a few minutes, and then we will leave, clear?' Nod.  
  
They pulled up in front of the station, and all Letty could think about was what Dom would be like. He loved his father so much, practically worshiped him. How would he take his father's death?  
  
Letty walked behind Mrs. Breech as they continued down a bunch of cubicle offices, phones ringing, people tacking things up, people shouting. Letty grimaced. This must be hell for Dom and Mia. Such a chaotic scene, not good when someone has lost someone so precious. They rounded a corner and Letty saw someone with long black hair and tears streaming down her face.  
  
'MIA!' Letty yelled as she practically pushed Breech out of the way. Mia looked up, her eyes wide, her lower lip quivering as she sobbed loudly. Letty ran forward and grabbed Mia and hugged her tightly. She felt Mia hug her back, crying uncontrollably. 'Shhh... Mi, don't cry...' Letty whispered, remembering Dom saying things like that to her. It hadn't helped but it did sort of calm her down. Letty patted her head and finally pulled away.  
  
'...I saw him, Letty... I saw...' Mia cried, grabbing Letty again, sobbing. Letty frowned and patted her.  
  
'It'll be okay, Mi... It'll get better... I promise...' Letty said softly, pulling away and looking around. Mia wiped her cheeks. Where the fuck was Dom?  
  
'Miss Torretto we're ready to see you now.' An officer said, motioning for her to enter his office. She was about to go when Letty lightly grabbed her arm. She turned, her eyes still wide and brimming with tears.  
  
'Where's Dom?' Letty asked, not wanting to upset Mia. But she couldn't help it. Mia gulped the air and nodded toward the hallway. Dom was pacing, looking downward. Letty nodded and let go. 'You'll be okay Mia. I promise, remember!' Mia was lead into the office and the door closed.  
  
'We need to leave soon.' Breech said, her arms crossed, trying to look politely onto the scene. Letty nodded.  
  
'Just a few more minutes.' She said walking toward the hallway. Dom had his back to Letty and she was trying to think of what to say. What could she possibly say? She was so bad at being sympathetic. But she shook herself. Dom needed her now, and he hadn't hesitated when she needed him.  
  
As if he'd known all along, he suddenly turned and came face to face with her. They simply stood there for a few moments. All sound was gone, replaced by the same ringing Letty had heard after she was told Tony was dead. They stared at each other until finally Letty came a bit closer.  
  
'I'm sorry Dom.' She said looking up into his deep brown eyes, usually so loving and soulful, now so cold and dead. She went on when he didn't move. 'I wish it wasn't... I'm so sorry.' Letty felt a few tears escape her eyes. She looked down, too ashamed to look him the eye. She was the one crying but it was his father who'd died. Then suddenly she felt two large arms encircle her and next thing she knew Dom was holding her tightly in his arms. Her arms crept up his back and she felt his head dip into the crook of her neck.  
  
'He's gone Lett.'  
  
'I know.' She answered him, pulling him even closer.  
  
'He was alone when it happened.' Dom said, in his deep voice, though now it was very lifeless. 'He was screaming...' Letty had to fight back more tears. This was killing him. And her. 'He was alone...'  
  
'You're not. I'm here.' She brushed the back of his bare neck, trying to soothe him. She felt him shudder.  
  
'They're going to take you away.' He said low in his voice, so his whole body shook. Letty grimaced.  
  
'I'm here now.' She said trying to offer any comfort she could. Her answer had not been enough obviously, because Dom dropped to his knees, pulling her down with him. They were kneeling in front of each other, Dom clutching her closely, murmuring 'Don't leave me again.'. Letty rubbed small circles on his back, wishing she could say she wouldn't, that there was no way in hell she'd ever leave him again.  
  
'It'll be okay...' Letty cooed, snuggling into his body. 'I won't leave if you won't.'  
  
'I won't... never...' he shook with his emotions, not able to form words anymore. Letty kissed his shoulder, offering more reassurances. They were kneeling for what seemed like forever, when Letty felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up, Dom's face still buried in her shoulder.  
  
'We need to leave now.' Mrs. Breech said, before walking back to the cubicle offices. Letty glared at her. What kind of unfeeling bitch...  
  
'Dom...' Letty said lightly, trying to pull him away a bit. He leaned back and looked down at her. She placed her forehead against his. 'I have to go with social services for a little while, but I swear I'll be back. I swear.' She couldn't look at him. It hurt her too much. It was like being stabbed over and over.  
  
'Leticia, now!' Breech said in a loud firm voice. Letty frowned and got up, leaving Dom on his knees. Finally he too got up, his face pained. Letty began walking down the hall and then suddenly stopped. She turned to look at him. He looked so lost. And something in her just went off.  
  
She ran back down the hall toward him and jumped up into his arms. He caught her, though he didn't know what was going on until her lips found his. He closed his eyes as she began to suck on his upper lip, her hands massaging the back of his head. She felt his hands begin to massage her legs, as he pulled her deeper into the kiss, his tongue slipping into her mouth, finding hers and then stroking it. Letty felt that it was pure bliss and unadulterated hell. Letty felt like crying and laughing at the same time. Just being with Dom, jumbled her feelings until she didn't know which way was up.  
  
Finally she broke away from him and leant her forehead against his, looking him right in the eye.  
  
'I promise we'll do this more often.' Letty said, sliding down from his body. He seemed to want to protest, but Letty knew she had to go. Besides, though her heart was screaming for her to declare her undying love for him, it also told her that he was hurting right now, and that he probably wasn't sure of anything right now. Letty decided she would tell him later, when he wasn't hurting so much.  
  
She broke away from him and walked down the hall toward a scowling Breech, who was muttering 'In my day...' and 'Youth!'. All that Letty could think about was how she'd just kissed Dom in front of the entire police station. And she'd do it again. And that made her smile.  
  
********************************************************************** Very long chapter.. But very VERY important.. Hope you all enjoyed, and remember to keep reviewing! This chapter is dedicated to all my diligent little reviewers! *Sniff* You all make me so happy... So yeah, please keep reading and reviewing! Becuz that's why I write! Love ya'll! ~*~ S.T.O.K.E.S ~*~  
  
Thanks to China, DomLetty4eva, Minnie Letty, letty girl 101, devil-child, Jrodriguez, Alex Diesel, VinsGirl123, hope, homegirl, greenglasschassis, Fez and Chookstar! Keep reading, I love you guys!  
  
Stokes x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0x 


	12. Gone

Letty stared out the window of the cluttered office. It had been an entire week, Letty was in the custody of Social Services. Usually she was staying at the community center in a restricted area for homeless children. It was uncomfortable, dark and miserable, children crying and saying they want their parents back. Overall a very depressing environment. But today she came into Mrs. Breech's office. Today someone enquired about adopting her.  
  
She sat in the little dirty brown carpet chair, staring at the gray skies and wondering what Dom was doing right at that very second. That seemed to be all she could think about. Dom and if he was alright without his dad and her. Losing two people in one blow must be hell for him, Letty thought miserably. She'd been told the details of Tony's death. He'd cut the last corner a little wide and some bastard named Lindor clipped his bumper on the side. Sent him into the wall at 120. Letty was told Tony died instantly, on impact. Just thinking of him, made her want to cry. But she pushed it out of her mind as Mrs. Breech entered the room. She sat down in her squeaky chair and Letty heard two other people enter.  
  
She turned slightly to see a middle age couple sit down across from Mrs. Breech. The man was tall with gray hair and huge glasses, and the woman was short with chopped off light blonde hair. They looked a bit nervous, looking around. Letty turned back to the window and pretended not to listen.  
  
'Now, Mr and Mrs. McDonald, you want to adopt a sixteen year old? That's fairly odd these days. Usually couples prefer to adopt small children or infants.' Mrs. Breech droned as she stared down at a piece of paper.  
  
'Well, as we said, we want to give shelter to someone who is old enough to be fairly independent. And we wanted some one particularly bright.' The man answered in a semi English accent. His wife nodded as Mrs. Breech shuffled her papers around.  
  
'Well, Leticia is very independent and has been offered a spot at the prestigious Private prep school near your area. Holy Trinity I think.' She said in her raspy low voice, laying the papers in front of the couple. 'Though she has a record for fighting, I doubt she'll be doing that anymore.'  
  
'Um, Mrs. Breech, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did she end up here?' the woman asked in a small breathy voice. Mrs. Breech leaned forward.  
  
'Her father was in a car accident. Her mother was seen as unfit to take care of her and was shortly after arrested for drug abuse and child abuse. She was lent to the custody of a racer named Anthony Torretto, who was killed just a week ago.' Mrs. Breech droned out. 'Perhaps you would like to meet her.'  
  
Letty supposed they nodded at this.  
  
'Leticia, would you come here please.' Breech said leaning back so that her chair squeaked again. Letty got up and walked toward Breech's desk, her head bowed slightly. Mrs. Breech suddenly stood up.  
  
'Well I'll leave you three to get acquainted.' Letty turned to see Mrs. Breech get up and scoot over to the door with an arm full of paper work. She closed the door and the three remaining just stared at each other.  
  
'So... Leticia... do you like baseball..?'  
  
After about an hour, Letty learned that the couple were named Herb and Carla McDonald and they lived about ten blocks away from Letty's old home. They couldn't have children, though they always wanted one. Herb was a teacher at a school out in the west end, and Carla worked for a bank. They were nice enough, Letty thought, they wanted to give her all they could and in return they wanted her to strive for excellence. Kind of like those people who take pity on those less fortunate and do all they can to let them excel. It was a sweet deal. They lived in a huge house, had lots of money, said they'd leave her mostly to her own devices.  
  
'Can I still see my old friends?' Letty asked quietly sitting across from the couple. Carla smiled.  
  
'Of course dear. Mrs. Breech told us you especially might want to spend time with the family you were previously living with.' Carla said laying her hands neatly in her lap. 'The Torrettos I think.'  
  
'Yes. Mia and Dominic.' Letty said, her voice hitching at Dom's name. Carla and Herb exchanged looks.  
  
'Dominic. That's not a girl's name...' Herb said, smiling slightly. Letty tried half heartedly to smile back. How observant, she wanted to answer, but she decided not to.  
  
'No. Dom's a guy.'  
  
'Is he your boyfriend?' Carla asked, still smiling. Letty looked down and this time she did sort of smile.  
  
'I don't really know. It's kind of complicated...' Letty said looking back up at them. Herb cleared his throat.  
  
'Well I'm sure you can fill us in on the way home.' He said sitting up on the edge of the chair. 'That is, if you want to live with us. I'm sure it might seem odd, but I'm sure we can get to know each other better.' Letty saw them both beaming at her, both holding hands and Letty felt her heart lift a little. This was what she'd dreamed her family would be like. Together, in harmony, happy, loving, willing to allow space and yet still stay together. How could Letty refuse?  
  
She merely nodded and a few moments later, Breech walked in with the necessary papers. After about a half an hour of signing documents, Letty left, carrying her bag of clothing and box of belongings behind the couple. They had offered to carry it, but when Letty said she'd prefer carrying it, they didn't pry.  
  
They stopped in front of a blue Toyota MR2 Spyder. Letty's mouth nearly dropped to the ground. One very hot car. Usually she would joke that old people shouldn't be allowed to have cars that hot. But now, technically, it was her car too. Not a bad deal.  
  
She climbed in the back as Herb stuck his key in the ignition and pull out of the parking space.  
  
'So, do you have a nickname, Leticia?' Carla said, turning almost all the way around in her seat. Letty smiled.  
  
'Letty.' Her smile faded. What did she call them? Sensing her uncertainty Carla patted Letty's leg.  
  
'Call us Carla and Herb.' She said kindly. 'So, this Dominic, are we going to be seeing him around the house a lot?' Letty grinned. They seemed excited about having a daughter, even having a boyfriend they could chase away. It was sort of amusing.  
  
'If you don't mind.' Letty said quietly. Carla waved her hand.  
  
'Of course not dear!' she said turning to look at Herb. 'You can have your friends over any time.' Letty couldn't help but snuggle into the leather seating. This was more like a fairytale than anything else. A family who was perfect. A big house. Freedom. Dom. It was all too good to be true.  
  
So Letty should have known things wouldn't last.  
  
They pulled up in front of a very large, gray stone house. It was so close to the beach, Letty could smell the salt air. Letty couldn't help but gawk at it, as Carla and Herb climbed out of the car.  
  
'Well, I guess we should welcome you home.' Herb said, folding the seat forward so Letty could get out. She smiled at him and grabbed her stuff, feeling like Cinderella more and more by the minute. They led her up the front steps and Herb fumbled with the keys, nervous by Letty's presence. They wanted to make a good impression on her, she supposed. Finally the door opened and Letty stepped inside. There was a large sweeping staircase to the left of the room. The whole house smelled of vanilla and roses. It was almost obsessively neat, which made Letty wonder if they were going to want her after a week, since she didn't really care how messy she was.  
  
'Your room is up the stairs and to the left. I'm going to start making lunch. Are club sandwiches alright?' Carla said laying her purse on the front hall table. Letty nodded and proceeded up the stairs and finally she came to a stop in front of a blue door. It was odd because the rest of the hall was white. Letty took a deep breath and pushed it open.  
  
She almost died when she saw the room. It was half a purply blue color and half a nice pale green. It clashed horribly, but Letty liked it. There were black and white photos all over one wall, and there was a bed in the right corner, with a white metal bed frame. There was a huge window by her bed with creamy curtains draped around it. Letty felt as though she should turn around and ask where her real room was. Instead she dropped her things on the floor and jumped on the bed. Oh yes. This was her room. It was warm and she could feel the warm breeze pushing in threw her window.  
  
She sighed. Life was perfect.  
  
She jumped up and grabbed the telephone on her side table and began dialing as quickly as she could. But there was no answer. I guess Mia and Dom still aren't home. She thought as she put the phone back down.  
  
'Letty! Lunch!' Carla shouted from the kitchen. Letty grinned and jumped up and practically ran down to the kitchen. Carla smiled as she set three sandwiches in front of an empty seat. Herb was sitting, eating already, a paper in his left hand.  
  
'So, like your room?' Herb said sitting back as he finished one of his sandwiches. Letty grinned widely.  
  
'Yeah! It's great!' she said as she picked up one of the clubs. 'I was wondering... tomorrow can I go visit one of my friends? She kind of needs me right now, her father died...' Letty said before taking a bite. Carla smiled and sat down next to her.  
  
'Perhaps on Saturday. I want to get to know you a bit better. And Thursday we have to start talking about enrolling you in Holy Trinity...' she said before neatly nibbling the edge of one of her clubs. Letty shrugged.  
  
Oh well, she thought. They had taken her in, were already treating her like she was part of the family, the least she could do was go to the school they chose. Besides, it was a pretty good school. Maybe she could play up her bully attitude and reap the benefits. Besides, Carla an Herb said she could have her friends over anytime, and with a spread like this, she doubted they wouldn't take her up on the offer.  
  
'Is it the Torrettos you want to visit?' Herb inquired as he wiped his hands. Letty nodded solmely. 'They live a fair piece. Why don't I give you a ride?'  
  
'Thanks Herb.' Letty smiled as she wolfed down the last of her clubs. 'I think I'll try calling them again.' She got up and was about to take her plate when Carla shook her head.  
  
'I'll get that dear, just go up and get settled.' She said waving for Letty to go ahead. Letty nodded and ran back upstairs to her new phone. She threw open the door and virtually dove onto her bed, grabbing the phone, dialing like a mad woman.  
  
No one answered. Letty sighed and dropped the phone, lying on her bed. Then she heard a knock and saw Carla standing at the door.  
  
'Can I come in?' she asked. Letty nodded and Carla sat on the edge of the bed. 'I know it must be strange for you. Living in a complete stranger's house, but I want you to know, that you can talk to me about anything.' She said putting a soft, cold hand on Letty's arm. Letty smiled and nodded.  
  
'I know.' Carla smiled back. She then let out a little sigh.  
  
'So, tell me everything.' She said, suddenly in a very excited tone. Letty couldn't help being reminded of a little girl, asking all sorts of curious questions. 'What's your favorite food? Television Program? Who's Dom? Who are all your friends? What do you do for fun?' she threw at Letty.  
  
'Well, my favorite food is anything spicy. I can't stand fish!' she said smiling. Carla nodded.  
  
'Right, no fish.' She said as if making a mental note. Letty grinned.  
  
'And I usually hang around the market after school with my friends... or go hang out with Dom and Vince at Tony's garage...' she trailed off at the sound of Tony's name. He was gone. She actually forgot for a minute that he was gone. Carla seemed to notice this.  
  
'So you like cars?' she said changing the topic. 'Herb is crazy about them. They were his hobby when he was younger. We have so many tools in the shed, I'm sure you could start your own garage. You could invite your friends... Vince and Dom?' she said offering a kind smile. Letty nodded.  
  
'I'd like that.'  
  
Carla and Letty talked well into the night. The next few days, Letty felt as though she were playing 20,000 questions. Every time she was around Carla, it was non stop question period. She didn't mind though. But she wished she could get a hold of Mia and Dom. She'd tried calling at least fifteen times a day, and still no answer.  
  
On Friday she decided to call them after lunch, leaving Carla and Herb to sit at the table.  
  
She waited and finally the phone clicked to signal someone had picked it up.  
  
'H-hello?' Mia's voice answered, evidently she was crying.  
  
'Mia?' Letty said unsure of how to talk her down. She heard a small sob and then a lot of sniffling. 'Mia, are you okay?' Letty thought maybe she would have calmed down a bit after a week. But then again, it had taken Letty almost three weeks to come out of her room.  
  
'God, Letty!' she said in a wavering voice. 'I-I tried to call you, at the - the community center... but they said you were - gone -' she stuttered out, gulping for air.  
  
'Shhhh... Mi, I'm fine, I was adopted a few days ago...' Letty said, her smile wide. 'Who's there with you?'  
  
'V-Vince and Nikki...' she stuttered out, sniffling slightly.  
  
'Listen, I want to come visit you and Dom tomorrow!' As soon as she said Dom's name, Mia let out a wail and began sobbing into the phone again. Letty frowned. 'Hey Mia, it's okay, don't cry... what's wrong?...' Letty heard Mia collect herself on the other end of the line.  
  
'He's - gone - ' she choked out. Letty sat up, staring at the ground as if she'd misheard.  
  
'What?' she asked in a breathy voice. Mia sobbed again.  
  
'HE'S GONE!' she cried. 'The cops took him away!' she continued to bawl on the phone, while Letty just sat on the end of the bed, too shocked to move or talk or cry or even scream. She just sat there, listening to Mia cry. Dom was gone?! How?! WHY!? Letty's head was buzzing with questions.  
  
'I-I'll be right over Mia... just hold on...' Letty clicked her phone's off button and dropped it on the ground. She ran to the door and threw it open, almost fell down the stairs and dove for her sneakers.  
  
'Letty, dear, what's wrong?' Carla asked shuffling into the front hall after hearing Letty stumble down the stairs.  
  
'I have to go to the Torretto house... they took him away...' she babbled as she crammed her left sneaker on her foot. Carla bent down and put her hand on Letty's shoulder.  
  
'Slow down...' she said quietly, 'Took who away?' Letty looked up at Carla, tears welling in her eyes.  
  
'Dominic...' Letty said in a soft voice, before standing. 'I have to go.' Letty said, her voice wavering as the thought of Dom being taken away from her filled her head. She turned to the door and heard keys jangle.  
  
'I'll drive you. It will be quicker.' Letty silently thanked god for her understanding and ran to the car, as Carla followed. Letty climbed into the passenger seat and gripped the armrest. She was starting to feel more and more uneasy by the minute and felt as though she might retch. Carla quickly pulled out of the drive and the car sped down road, wind whipping Letty's hair back. The whole ride she had to keep telling herself that things would be alright.  
  
Finally, after fifteen minutes, Letty pointed to the white house in the middle of the street. Carla pulled over and Letty threw the door open and climbed out. Carla tapped her shoulder.  
  
'Do you want me to wait?' she asked. She seemed so unsure of what to do. Letty stared at her for a few seconds.  
  
'No... no I'll be fine...' Letty said shutting the door. Carla nodded and handed Letty a small piece of paper.  
  
'That's our home phone number. Call when you want to be picked up.' Carla said, looking shaken, before pulling away from the house and speeding away again. Letty crammed the note into her pocket and ran up the front steps, and began banging on the door.  
  
It opened to reveal a worn and depressed looking Vince. He grimaced and Letty swallowed hard. This was not good. She stepped into the house and peered around to see Mia lying across the couch, shaking as she smothered her sobs in her pillow. Vince motioned for Letty to follow him in the kitchen. She did and he leaned over the sink, his head bowed.  
  
'What happened V?' she asked, trembling slightly, not ready for the answer she knew he would give. Vince took a deep breath and turned to face her.  
  
'The cops took Dom.' He said, his voice dry and cracked. Letty could tell he was hurting. Dom had been friends with V since the third grade. Letty's mouth fell open a bit, her lip quivering.  
  
'Why?!' she asked shaking, her eyes welling up again. 'Why did they take him?!' she asked a little more loudly. Vince stepped forward and pulled Letty into his arms, as she buried her face into his shoulder and began to cry softly. He rocked her and placed his cheek on her head.  
  
'Dom saw Lindor... the guy who ran Tony into the wall...' Letty pulled away, just enough to look into Vince's eyes. 'He -he hit him with a torque wrench - ' Letty covered her hand with her mouth. 'and he kept hitting him...' Vince's voice trailed off as understanding dawned on Letty's face. 'They say the guy had to go in for emergency surgery... he won't ever race again...' Letty shook her head.  
  
'Dom wouldn't... he wouldn't hurt anyone...' she said blinking rapidly, more tears spilling down her cheeks. 'He didn't...' Vince pulled her close again and started to rock her again as she continued her chant of disbelief. But one thing was certain.  
  
Dominic was gone. 


	13. Regrets and Surprises

'Come on Lett, if you don't move your ass, we won't get to see him!' V yelled up the stairs, as Mia came out of the kitchen, gulping her water. Letty was looking at herself in the mirror, from her blue peasant hat to her tight jean skirt. She wanted to look good for Dom. It had been two months since they'd sentenced him to Lompoc. She cried, no doubts bout that, even shut herself up in her room at Carla and Herb's. She was further angered by the fact that they 'understood' and gave her space. She wanted them to order her around, do anything that resembled that of what an actual parent would do.  
  
Mia was as bad as she was. The double blow of losing brother and father had brought her down. She gained fifteen pounds after Dom's lock up. She wouldn't come downstairs, out of her room. The only people she would let see her were Letty and Vince and even then, she'd remain silent. But about a month and a half after she had resolved herself, told herself that Dom wasn't gone forever.  
  
'Letty if you don't get your skinny latino booty down here, I'ma leave without you!' Vince shouted and finally Letty ran down the stairs and jumped down and began putting on her sneakers. Vince whistled as he watched her. 'Damn girl, you goin fishin behind Dom's back or somethin?' Letty glared at him as she stood up. She lightly punched his arm and grabbed Mia's hand, draggin her out the door.  
  
'I'm here, so stop your holla and let's move!' she said, practically hauling Mia along. She just smiled and Vince followed as they got in his car and sped toward Lompoc.  
  
As they past security, Letty felt a sudden change, like the room had turned into some place of death. It was cold and gray and Letty wondered how anyone could stay sane in here for two months let alone two years. And that was how long Dom was being locked up for. The only color was from the visitors and the inmates, who were wearing the most hideous neon orange jumpsuits. Mia and Vince had taken a seat in front of the glass, waiting for Dom to be directed to them. Letty stood by the wall, watching as he lumbered over to them, the glass separating him from his sister and his best friend.  
  
Letty almost died on the spot. His eyes seemed so dead and cold, almost drawing off the atmosphere of the room. He had a frown plastered on his usually cocky face, and he was a lot paler than Letty remembered. He dropped into the chair opposite Mia and picked up the phone and began talking. Letty felt as though she could cry. This wasn't her Dom.  
  
'What's a fine young thing like you doin in a joint like this?' Letty turned to see a rat faced attendant leering at her. She almost backed away in disgust. She bet this guy was made 52% of grease. Even his tone of voice was slick and slimy. He continued to look her up and down. Letty cringed. Did he think he was being sexy?  
  
'I'm here tah see my boyfriend, thanks.' She replied coolly. A lot more comfortably than she actually felt around this creep. His smile faded a bit and he cocked an eyebrow.  
  
'Boyfriend huh? Musta done some wrong to end up in the clink.' He said, his voice oily and almost unfazed. Letty shrugged. 'What's this guy's name anyway?'  
  
'Dominic Torretto.' She replied, sure that Dom had made a name for himself by now and that this creep would high tail it outta there after she mentioned the name. But the guy simply let out a chuckle and leaned against the wall.  
  
'And you still wanna know the bastard?' he said shaking his head a little. 'Girl, you must be half crazy...' Letty felt her cheeks burn.  
  
'What did you say?' she asked, bawling her hands into fists, seething with rage at this little fuckers words. 'I love him... unconditionally.' He seem nonchalant.  
  
'Yeah, it'd have to be unconditionally. After what he did to that guy.' He said as he pulled out a cigarette. 'Listen missy, I know Dominic Torretto. I patrol his sector everyday from nine till five. I've seen the pictures of what he did. That guy's a monster, and a sweet little thang like you ain't even in his league.' He said as he lit the fag and took a long drag, blowing the smoke out of his nose. Letty ground her teeth together.  
  
'That's a load of bull.' She said as she turned to walk over and join Mia and Vince.  
  
'You wanna see the pictures?' he asked, pulling out a brown folder. Letty froze. Why should she look? She trusted Dom, loved him and she didn't care how many bruises the other guy had, he had it coming to him. On the other hand, curiosity was eating away at her. What HAD Dom done to get lock up here?  
  
She turned slowly, glaring at the little puke who was extending the brown folder to her, blowing smoke into the cold air. She grabbed it and wrenched it from him, flipping it open and looking down.  
  
And she actually gasped.  
  
The guy in the picture was sewn up from eye to nose. Bruises all over his face, and discoloration near his left ear. He looked like one of those plastic surgeries gone wrong. He looked like Frankenstein. Letty couldn't help gaping at the picture in front of her. Dom did this... DOM did this...  
  
'And they say that's the best they could do for him... he'll never race again. Pretty sad if you ask me. Two fine racers, both taken off the track for good...'  
  
'Shut up.' Letty ground out, though it was barely above a whisper. She supposed he didn't hear her because he continued.  
  
'And that shit that you call a boyfriend... damn, you'd think he had two brain cells to rub together, not to attack a guy with a freakin torque wrench...'  
  
'Shut up.' Letty said, this time a little louder, but it was choked. Still the rat continued.  
  
'Well, I guess like father like son... even if he could race, Tony Torretto never was a very smart guy...' WHAM! Letty had slugged the guy with a right hook that floored him. She was shaking with rage as she dropped the folder and looked around. Every one was staring at her, from the visitors to the prisoners. Mia and Vince were looking at her wide eyed, and Dom looked as though he'd seen a ghost, paler even still. Letty just breathed out rugged breaths and dropped the folder, running as fast as she could out of the room.  
  
She couldn't ever go back again.  
  
Weeks past where Letty would stalk around her house (Carla's and Herb's) or at the Torretto's. And by far she was bitchier than ever. She knew she was being a bitch, but that didn't make her stop her snide remarks and her fists of fury. Within a week of finding out what **Dom** had done, she'd already beaten up three private school girls and threatened a teacher. At home, Mia would try and coax her to come back and see Dom, and at the sound of his name she would explode, yelling at Mia, calling her naïve. Eventually she stopped going to the Torretto house, only seeing Vince and Mia at the garage, where she worked after school. They had hired two knew guys, since Tony and Dom...  
  
Letty let out a huge sigh as she leaned over the engine in front of her. For the first time in nearly half a year, she felt she truly hated Dom. The words ... he's a monster... rolled threw her mind every few minutes, making it almost impossible to get any work done.  
  
This was how it went everyday for the entire year. Beating private chicks up, scraping by without getting in trouble, working at the garage. She somehow maintained her friendship with Mia and Vince, and especially Jesse and Leon. They didn't hold a painful past with her, so she found it easier to talk to them.  
  
'Chica, you wanna work on something, or you just gonna stare at it all day?' Letty shot a glare across the garage to where Leon was sitting, picking out his tools. Then she sighed. He was right. It was hot and wearing these coveralls was not helping her cool off. And for the first time in weeks she was too tired to bitch at him. It had been exactly one year and five months since Dom had been thrown in prison and she was left hating his memory. In fact his memory was fading from her fast, she could barely remember him. So much for the theory 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder.' Letty sighed again.  
  
'I'ma take a break.' She said leaning out from under the hood and dropping her wrench. Leon nodded and continued pulling out his stuff. She grabbed a Corona and basically fell into the lawn chair near a beat up old fan in the corner of the office.  
  
Things had changed so much in the last little while. Mia had to take charge of the place, running the restaurant and balancing the checkbooks and what not. Letty, Vince, Leon and Jesse were the hands on people. Though it always felt like they were missing a real leader. Sure Mia was great, but she wasn't Dom.  
  
Letty shook her head. Since when did she want Mia to be Dom? Okay, so she hadn't completely gotten over him. And the thought that in just one more month he was getting out for good behavior was making it even harder than usual to work. How would she talk to him? How could she? And how would he react to her? She was very different from the girl he knew.  
  
She was no longer slim bordering skinny. She had filled out even more if that was possible, and was all leg. And as weird as it might seem, the most serious relationship she'd had since Dom was with a guy, with whom she'd dated a total of three times before promptly dumping his white ass.  
  
She sighed. Yes sir, Dom sure did fuck up her life. And for the most part, she didn't really mind. In a month she'd see him and there was a part of her that she couldn't deny just wanted to jump his bones as soon as he got home. She smiled at that thought. Mmmm, jumping Dominic Torretto. A dream she had yet to make a reality.  
  
'Lett, we're goin out tonight.' V said as he trudged into the garage, wiping his hands on a rag. 'Erin and me are going to this little Russian place downtown and Leon and Torynn might tag along. You wanna come?' he said. Letty shrugged. She didn't want to be a fifth wheel. It was way too tacky.  
  
'Naw, you kids have fun. I'll just stay home.' Letty said taking another swig of her beer. Vince smiled and bent down in front of her.  
  
'You sure, baby girl, cause we don't gotta if you-'  
  
'Leon if you don't fucking go, I'll kick your scrawny ass.' Letty said in the calmest voice she had used since Dom left. She sipped her beer as Leon smirked at her, leaning against the wall. Vince chuckled.  
  
'Dawg, I think we been dissed and dismissed.' Leon said rubbing his stomach as if he were hungry. 'Not that I'm complainin'. I got a sweet girl lined up and everything.' Leon said as he licked his lips. Vince shook his head.  
  
'As long as you know what you're getting yourself into man. Tor's a bit of a spitfire underneath that innocent little girl act.' Vince said before throwing his rag on Letty, who mumbled 'ass'.  
  
'Just the way I like em.' Leon said before disappearing outside. Letty took the rag off her face and threw her empty bottle at the recycling box. She sighed. Maybe she'd just stay at the garage and work late. Make up for her slacking off the past while.  
  
She stood up and stretched, wandering into the restaurant. Mia was standing at the counter, hunched over a stack of papers, mumbling to herself. Letty grabbed a beer from the back and looked over Mia's shoulder.  
  
'These numbers don't add up.' Mia said with a frustrated growl, slamming her pencil down on the counter, splitting it in half. Letty leaned back and smiled.  
  
'And you say I should go to anger management? Girl, I think you need to relax.' Letty said hopping up and sitting on the counter, sipping her newly opened can. Mia grabbed a Snapple from behind the counter and sighed.  
  
'I'm just glad Dom'll be back soon. I'd die if he wasn't. All this paperwork is killing me.' She said taking a long gulp of the strawberry juice. Letty nodded and proceeded to look out onto the street. Mia's eyebrow shot up. 'You're not nervous are you? You know, bout Dom coming home?' Letty smirked.  
  
'Naw, girl, I'm breezy.'  
  
'You are such a bad liar.'  
  
'Shut up.'  
  
'No seriously.' Mia said taking another huge gulp of Snapple. 'I don't know why you're nervous though.' Letty shook her head and let out a desperate laugh.  
  
'For the last fuckin time woman, I am NOT nervous.' She said looking at Mia with mock coolness. Mia's eyebrows both rose, almost dangerously disappearing into her hair. Letty sighed. 'Okay, so maybe I am a little edgy... come on Mi! It's Dom! First I hate him! Then I fall madly in love with him! Then I refuse to visit him in prison! He probably will come home, scream his fuckin head off at me, then go for a whorin spree across town.' Letty ended her rant in a defeated stance, throwing her empty can at the trash. Mia just stared.  
  
'Wow.' She said staring at Letty. 'You really are full of bullshit.' Letty looked up, frowning slightly. Mia cracked a smile and wolfed down the last of her juice. 'Dom asks about you every time we visit. Asks how you're doing, what you're doing, if you're doing anyone...' Mia giggled at this, which made Letty blush. 'He doesn't think of anything but you!'  
  
'Stop your bitch ass lying girl.' Letty said lightly pushing Mia. Mia shook her head.  
  
'Hunny, the thought of Vince wearing a wet school girl uniform doesn't keep my brother warm at night, that's for sure!' Letty let out a little noise and lightly punched Mia's arm. Then she began fidgeting with her hands, reminding Mia of Jesse. 'What?'  
  
'If he gets out on parole, I'll still be in school.' Letty said, staring down at her hands. Mia blinked.  
  
'And?'  
  
'And I'll still be wearing that stupid school uniform.' Letty said, smiling slyly. Mia couldn't help laughing out loud. Once her giggles died away she replaced them with a smug smile.  
  
'Well, I doubt Dom'll complain... But I do know he'll probably go out of his mind when he finds out about Johnny.' Letty's sly smile disappeared in a split second, replaced by one of guilt and sorrow.  
  
'I know. But how can I tell him? I don't want anyone to get hurt. Cept maybe Johnny...' Letty said pushing back her sweat drenched hair. Mia shrugged, breathing out heavily.  
  
'All I know is you have to break it to him lightly, otherwise there'll be carnage and my bro will end up back in the slammer.' Mia said hopping down from the counter. 'And the other thing I know is that you need to have a shower. He's coming home tomorrow and...' Letty's head shot up.  
  
'What?!' Mia grinned at Lett's shock filled face.  
  
'They decided to let him off a little bit earlier than planned.' She beamed as she watched Letty's face pale a bit. 'So he'll be coming home tomorrow morning.' There was a moment of silence. Then a scream.  
  
'Who's being raped?!' Leon yelled as he, Vince and Torynn came running out of the back room, looking around wildly. Then they all smirked. Mia was lying, sprawled out on the floor, looking wide eyed at Letty, who was on top of her, hugging her to death.  
  
'Letty, girl, didn't know you, yah know, swung that way...' Tori said crossing her arms over her chest. Leon grinned.  
  
'I dunno, I think it's kinda hot.' He said dumbly, Letty glaring at him. Torynn smacked him over the side of the head. 'WHAT?!' He asked as Tori glared daggers, before she walked off, Leon in tow trying to apologize and Vince who was laughing his ass off.  
  
Letty finally sat up, Mia gasping for air, and smiled. Dom was coming home. HER Dom was coming home. 


	14. Laughing Interlude

WARNING: LOTS of implications of sex and language! This is about as close to an R rated chapter as it gets ladies, and maybe next chapter... I don't go as far as to describe anything, but still, if it offends you, read no further... otherwise, go for it! TAKE THE PLUNGE! It's kinda cute, heehee!  
  
Love, ~*~ S.T.O.K.E.S. ~*~  
  
Dedicated to my girls Lango and Cocoa! AND MY READERS!  
  
P.S The stuff about Torynn and Leon is so funny, my friend laughed her ass off at it because I experienced a similar scenario ... ahem... they do say truth is stranger than fiction, heehee!  
  
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Letty stepped out of Dom's bathroom, her hair blown dry and volumized to the max. For once she didn't smell like oil, but vanilla and she was squeaky clean for the first time in what seemed like weeks. She threw the towel on Dom's bed and pulled open one of his drawers. She pulled out a white wife beater and a pair of blue plaid boxers. She smiled as she pulled them on. They were huge on her, but they smelled like Dom and she couldn't repress a shiver as the wife beater fell over her head and covered her.  
  
She looked at the mirror and saw herself and thought, DAMN! Tomorrow morning, Dom won't know what the hell hit him!  
  
That day she'd worked extra hard to catch up on her work at the garage so that a) Dom wouldn't go postal that she slacked off and b) so that she would be so tired she'd definitely be sleeping in tomorrow. In Dom's bed.  
  
She'd called earlier that day to tell Carla that she was going to sleep over at Mia's. Herb had tried to argue, but Carla gave him her death glare, which Letty had to admit was pretty fuckin scary when done properly. Herb had been being an ass for the last few months, but Carla always seemed to keep him in check.  
  
Letty smiled and then threw herself on Dom's huge comfy bed, peeling the covers away, and the smell of Dom overwhelmed her. The bed hadn't been touched since he'd been gone and was as fresh as the day her left. Letty snuggled into the pillow and was about to pull the blankets back when she heard the front door burst open. She sighed and climbed out, ambling over to the stairs.  
  
Vince was cuddling up to Erin, his new girlfriend, who was definitely hammered to shit. They fell down on the couch and both started to laugh. Letty rolled her eyes. DISGUSTING! She thought. She never ever wanted to think of Vince like that!  
  
Next the door slammed and Letty's eyes were ripped away from the torture of Vince actually getting some action, to see Leon walking in, CARRYING Torynn. He was smiling down at her, and Letty knew that she was definitely more than a little tipsy. Letty had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing hysterically. She'd never thought of Leon as the romantic type and here he was carrying a giggling Tori toward the - oh shit!  
  
Letty jumped up and ran for Dom's room, narrowly missing Leon's line of vision. She heard him walk up the stairs and then heard his deep chuckle as he kicked open the guest room door. Letty couldn't take anymore and started to break down laughing.  
  
'Letty?' She heard Mia's voice call. She suppressed her laughter enough to open the door and let Mia in. She quickly shut it and the two exchanged glances before promptly dropping to the floor laughing so hard they thought they might be sick.  
  
'Oh - God - Did you s-see them?!' Mia cracked up, managing to pull herself up onto the bed. Letty grinned and nodded. After a few minutes the two finally pulled themselves together and sat on Dom's bed in silence.  
  
'So I guess tomorrow is the big day.' Letty said climbing into the bed and pulling the covers over her, letting out a small sigh. Mia nodded.  
  
'Don't worry about telling him about Johnny. He'll protect you if nothing else.' Mia said taking Letty's hand. Letty looked down then nodded.  
  
'I know. I just can't stand the thought that he might go back to Lompoc if he finds out...' Sensing that maybe this topic wasn't the best, Mia decided to try and lighten the mood.  
  
'I can't wait till Dom sees you. He'll probably just grab you and bring you up here... if he doesn't find you here first-'  
  
'That's the plan.' Letty said with a small wink. Mia smiled.  
  
'You horny vixen! He isn't even home yet and you're already planning on trying to seduce him!' Mia chuckled out. Letty shrugged and then tried to look innocent.  
  
'I am not... if he happens to find me in his bed, wearing his underwear and smelling like a vat of vanilla yogurt was dumped on me and he suddenly feels the urge to try lick it off, it'd be mean to try to stop him, right?' Mia lightly pushed Letty into the stack of pillows behind her. She was about to retort when suddenly the sound of bedsprings erupted from the next room, loud and fast. Letty and Mia stared at each other, horror struck and then dissolved into another fit of giggles.  
  
Finally Mia got up and grabbed her slipper, opening the door and throwing it at the door as hard as she could.  
  
'WOULD YOU TWO KEEP IT DOWN!?!' she yelled, smiling at Letty. There was silence. A few moments later, the guestroom door opened and Leon came out wearing nothing but a pair of white boxers, looking supremely pissed.  
  
'We're trying to fuck like minks in here, so would you two piss off!' he said before slamming the door. Mia was laughing so hard she was crying.  
  
'I'm going to bed!' she declared, her hand on the door. 'At least I can drown out their sound with my radio.' Letty nodded. 'See you in the morning! Hope you get sleep!' Letty grinned as Mia shut the door. She sank down in the large king sized bed, snuggling into the warmth of the blankets. This was so nice. A huge bed of warmth after a long day at work. And tomorrow maybe, if she was lucky, she'd be in here with Dom.  
  
She was still seventeen, but only for a few more days. And Dom was twenty. Almost perfect timing on his part. She smiled. Mmmmm... with Dom it wouldn't just be fucking. It'd be making love... and she'd wanted this for almost two years. If she had to wait much longer she thought she'd explode. With Dom it'd be slow, and sweet, and...  
  
Letty rolled her eyes. Did Leon have to be so fuckin loud?! Couldn't he keep his intimate life just that? INTIMATE! Although it did give her an interesting mental picture of what Dom and her could be doing this time tomorrow night...  
  
After twenty minutes of mentally strangling Leon and kissing Dom, Letty felt herself begin to drift off into a peaceful sleep. All she could think of was that in a few hours, Dom would be home with her. And that helped her to close her eyes and finally doze off.  
  
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Dom sat on the bench; waiting for his possessions to be checked threw. He was wearing a black tee shirt, that he'd ripped the arms off of, and a pair of baggy green cargo pants. It felt so good to be in his own clothing again, not that orange jumpsuit that he'd been wearing for nearly two years.  
  
Vince was standing by him, not saying a word, as they waited for Dom's books and watch and jacket to be checked out of the holding area.  
  
'Fuck it.' Dom said standing up, he could live without that stuff, but Vince grabbed his now hugely muscled arm. Dom turned and saw that V was shaking his head.  
  
'Cool it man. Everybody'll still be there.' He said trying to pull Dom back down onto the bench. Dom didn't budge but then exhaled and sat back down. V again shook his head. 'Dawg, where'd these things come from anyway?' he said with an air of a laugh. Dom shrugged.  
  
'Nothin much to do, other than read and work out.' He said crossing his arms over his now huge chest. V laughed and Dom felt a little better after all his time in such a morbid place. He turned to Vince and leaned against the wall.  
  
'So how is everybody...' Dom said returning his gaze to the empty desk in front of them. V shrugged.  
  
'I think you mean how's Letty.' Dom's eyes flashed and his head dropped a bit. Vince tried to give an assuring smile. 'She's better man. Loads better. She's real excited for you to be comin home bro.'  
  
'Yeah right.' Dom said deeply under his breath. He remembered that day when she had come to see him. She looked good enough to eat and Dom couldn't wait for her to come and talk to him. Really, she was the only thing that kept him going and fueled all his fantasies while he was locked up. And the way she had looked at him, like he was some kind of beast, had haunted him until that very day. He found out later that Randall, one of his officers, had shown her the pictures of Lindor. He wanted to rip that little mother fucker to shreds after that, but knew he had no one to blame but himself.  
  
So the one person that kept him alive, he hadn't seen in nearly two years. And he had to live with the fact that he had scared her and hurt her, as much as he'd hurt himself.  
  
'I'm serious man!' Vince said leaning back as well. Dom looked up, hope growing a little in his chest. 'She was all girly and showerin and shit all cause you were comin home...' Dom inwardly smiled and felt a small swell of pride, that he could make Letty turn 'all girly and shit'.  
  
'So what about you man?' Dom said, finally realizing he hadn't talked about anybody else for a while. 'How you and Nikki doin?' Vince smiled and shrugged.  
  
'You really have been cut off. Me and Nik split a while ago, she's off blowin some other dude now.' He said with a huge sigh. Dom frowned.  
  
'Sorry man.' He said but Vince looked up and grinned.  
  
'No worries, I got a new girl, hot as hell and twice as much a light weight than Nikki ever was..' He laughed and it was Dom's turn to shake his head.  
  
'Man, getting women drunk shouldn't give you an ego!' Dom said jokingly. 'So are Edwin and Tor still hooked up?' Vince shook his head.  
  
'Naw, she caught him cheatin with some hoe named Monica at an after party and she ditched him on the spot. Now she's hooked with Leon, the new mechanic I told you bout. Guy's really cocky about it too.' Vince chuckled slightly.  
  
'After party? Racing and shit?' Dom asked. He'd gone a few times, raced, won, had the attention of every whore there and loved it. But there wasn't much money in it. At least, not then.  
  
'Yeah man. These things are huge now. Word leaked and its charged out there these days. You can make a killing off just one race.' V said as if this was as natural as anything.  
  
'How much?' Dom asked, slightly interested. He'd always been the best, loved cars and racing. He'd been banned from the legal track for life so this could be an opportunity and if he could make a killing...  
  
'About 6 or 7 grand for one race.' Dom did a double take. One race and he could get that much?!  
  
'You fuckin serious man?' he asked in a low rumbling voice. V nodded.  
  
'Yeah man. Letty and me do it from time to time. She's fast man, always beats out her heat. But she doesn't like doin it. The whole car accident thing still bothers her and shit. But she figures its easy money and when ever we need some she usually hooks us up.' Finally the officer reappeared and gave Dom the run down on how he was on house arrest and couldn't go anywhere but his house and the garage for the next six months. He had to call his parole officer once every week and check in as well. Dom took his stuff and left the office, walking out into the parking lot, past the wrought iron gates.  
  
He stopped and looked back as the gates closed, the barbed wire fence and stonewall looking twice as mean on the outside as on the inside. Which made it twice as sweet. Dom smiled slightly. He was finally free.  
  
'Yo man, we don't hit it, we won't get home till nine. You know how rush hour is.' V said as he climbed into the Sunfire parked in front of Dom. Dom nodded and got into the car, ready to finally see his family again.  
  
Dom grabbed his jacket out of the backseat and bunched it up into a pillow, placing it on his window and leaning his head against it. He was tired as all hell, he hadn't been able to sleep last night, the anticipation of coming home keeping him awake. He let thoughts of Letty drift threw his head. He desperately wanted to walk into that house, grab her, throw her over his shoulder and just carry her up to his room. She was almost eighteen and he wanted her so bad. He wanted her bad enough when he was sixteen; he had just been too noble and pigheaded to take her when he had her.  
  
Instead he fucked Mailin. He cringed at the thought of her. He had out grown that slutty bitch and wanted Lett, a more natural beauty. He hated himself for taking Mailin. And Letty had every right to suspect him of fucking Mai that night at the dance, though he hadn't. He'd gone to Vince's, seeking council on the matter, on how he had broken her heart. He had also been beaten up by Vince, his tux nearly ruined by the beating he'd received. But he didn't fight back. He knew he deserved it.  
  
But when he returned home, if Letty did want to see him so much, he'd be able to make it up to her. Hopefully many times over.  
  
**************************************************************************** ***  
  
Letty rolled over and felt something hit her arm. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that she was lying on the floor. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking up at the night table she'd bumped her arm on. The clock said six twenty am. She smiled. Dom would be home any minute. This sudden thought made her mouth run dry and she felt a lump rise into her throat, making breathing very hard. She needed a glass of water.  
  
She got up and walked clumsily to the door, opening it with a loud creak. She shuffled down the hall and past the guestroom where everything was quiet. She crept down the stairs and finally into the kitchen. She flicked on the lights and nearly had a heart attack.  
  
'Hey Lett.' Tori said sipping some water, sitting in one of the kitchen chairs in a night robe. Letty clutched her chest and finally walked forward, grabbing the bottle of water and chugging it almost in one. Tori smirked. 'You too huh?' she said sipping her water.  
  
'Why you up so early Tor? Or is Leon that bad in bed?' Letty said with a grin. Tori had to stifle a laugh, and then followed it with a groan, grabbing her head.  
  
'God, that boy got me so drunk, I don't think I even remember...' she said before drinking more water. 'I just remember waking up and there he is, lying beside me... nearly jumped out of my skin!' she said with a small smile.  
  
'You want me to beat his ass?' Letty said leaning against the counter. Tori shook her head.  
  
'Naw... truth be told, I don't really mind if we did... you know... I mean, I think I kind of... like him!' she said lowering her head. Letty gasped and Tori let out a strangled moan before her head hit the table. 'I KNOW! I'm an idiot! I said no more falling for guys that could hurt me and I fall for LEON! LEON for Christ's sake!' Her head was rolling back and forth, her blonde hair splayed everywhere. Letty smirked.  
  
'Hey now, it's not that bad. Maybe he likes you back.'  
  
'Yeah right. He just wants me for ass. I can tell.' Tori said sipping more water. She was about to continue when there was a creaking sound upstairs and Leon came walking down the stairs and into the kitchen, looking worried. At least Letty thought it looked like Leon was worried. Usually he never thought or cared about anything or anyone but himself.  
  
'Baby, whataya doin down here?' he asked, completely ignoring Letty. He bent down and put his arm on Tori's lap as she sipped a bit more water, looking very sad and nervous.  
  
'I-I felt a little sick... just hung over I guess...' she said looking down at her glass. Leon frowned and Letty just wished she had popcorn for this.  
  
'That's not it, is it babe?' he said softly and Letty looked to Tori. Tori shook her head and Letty looked back to Leon. She felt like she was watching tennis or some shit like that. 'Is something wrong? Do you... regret sleepin wit me?' he said as he hung his head slightly. Tori's eyes snapped up to Leon and Letty did a double take. No way! This had to be fake! Was Leon developing... feelings?!  
  
Torynn's mouth opened as if she were as shocked as Letty. Leon continued to stare at the ground, looking completely deflated. Then Tori blushed and put her hands on either side of Leon's face, bringing his gaze up to meet her's.  
  
'I'd never regret havin sex with you Lee... I just wish...' she trailed off, her entire face turning red. Leon frowned.  
  
'Wish what baby?' he asked, patting her knee, his left hand creeping to her waist. She looked down.  
  
'I just wish I could remember it...' she said in a timid voice. 'I...I was so boozed up, I.. Uh ...' Leon smiled up at her and Letty felt like this was a definite Kodak moment. 'God, I feel stupid!' she said shaking her head and smiling uncomfortably.  
  
'Tor, you're gorgeous. And, well, if you want babe, we could go up again and relive it.' He said with a grin plastered on his face. 'No complaints here.' Tori grinned down at him as he came up to give her a hug and kissed her cheek, picking her up. 'Hey Lett.' He said, not taking his eyes off Tor.  
  
Letty was about to reply when the sound of a car, faint but audible, was heard from down the street. Letty gaped for a moment, frozen to the spot. DOM'S HOME!  
  
**************************************************************************** ****** LOVE ALL MY REVIEWERS! MUAH x0x0xx0x0x! And I PROMISE, TONS OF LETTY/DOM ACTION next chapter... teehee, but trust me, this is a very important chapter! REVIEW MY PRETTIES! If I don't get any reviews there aint gonna be another chapter! HAHAHA!  
  
Love ya, STOKES 


	15. 21 Questions

OKAY! THIS IS IT! THE CHAPTER OF TRUTH! YOU ALL ASKED/BEGGED FOR IT! Sorry bout torturing all of you, but damn it was fun... here's Dominic.. Again, a few things about sex, but I don't write smut, I suck at it... maybe I'll try some day, but till then, all I can do is implicate.. :'( Sorry ladies!  
  
FOR MY GIRLS LANGO AND COCOA, haha MY partners in crime!  
  
**************************************************************************** ******  
  
Letty froze, staring at the front picture window. Yep the Sunfire pulled into the driveway and she could see the outline of two people. Tori was staring at the car too, though Leon was preoccupied with kissing her neck.  
  
'Hmmm... Dom must be back..' She said pulling Leon closer. She barely saw Letty zoom by them and rocket up the stairs and down the hall. Tori stared after her.  
  
'What the hell was that about?' she asked massaging Leon's scalp.  
  
'Dunno. Don't care.' He mumbled as he continued his course of action. Suddenly the front door opened and a huge muscled Italian guy entered, looking around the house with a huge grin on his face.  
  
It was almost exactly as he'd left it. Of course the furniture was rearranged, but still the same old home. He couldn't help feeling warm air engulf him as he surveyed his house.  
  
'Welcome home bro.' Vince said coming in and shutting the door behind him.  
  
'Dom?!' Dom looked up to see a tall lean, athletic looking guy, holding up a short slim blonde who seemed vaguely familiar.  
  
'Torynn Diego? That you kid?' he said with a smile. Tori's mouth dropped a little.  
  
'Boy, whata they been feedin you in prison?!' she said with a smile on her face. The guy holding her did not seem impressed. But Tori ignored him. 'It's good to see ya big man!' Dom nodded and looked around. 'Mia and Letty are upstairs!' Tori said brightly. Dom frowned slightly, still smiling.  
  
'Letty's here?' he asked a bit unbelievingly. Tori nodded and smiled.  
  
'Wanted to surprise you dawg. Baby girl's waitin for ya upstairs.' Leon said. Dom frowned a bit more at Leon's nickname. Vince stepped forward.  
  
'Leon Gonzalez, this is Dominic Torretto. Dom, this is Leon.' V said dropping Dom's shit on the ground. Dom nodded.  
  
'Cocky mechanic?' he said not breaking eye contact with him. Tori smiled.  
  
'You got it.' She said looking down at him. He looked at her as if to say 'Me?' She laughed a little. Dom took a step toward the stairs.  
  
'Hey man, you be good to her.' He said before beginning on the climb. 'Tor, you let me know if he does you wrong.' Tori nodded as Dom disappeared up the stairs. He walked to the end of the hall, to Mia's room and gently pushed open the door, a smile on his dark features.  
  
She was still asleep, and skinny as ever, long raven black hair and tanned features. His little sister had grown up and he'd missed it. He entered the room and crossed to her bed in two short strides. He bent down and kissed her forehead. She shifted slightly before rolling over and falling back into a peaceful sleep. Dom stood up and looked around. Letty wasn't in here.  
  
She must still be using my room, he thought smugly.  
  
He exited Mia's room and walked toward his room and twisted the door handle, almost too eagerly. The door swung open and Dom almost died. He would have died happy though.  
  
Letty was lying in his bed, wearing his clothes, her face softened and her chest rising in a steady rhythm. Her hair was spread out over his pillow, her breathing shallow, her hand lying on top of the flat plain of her stomach. She had even more curves than he remembered and she looked more mature. More beautiful that ever. He could smell a faint scent of vanilla that was driving him insane.  
  
He had to keep telling himself that if he jumped her now, she'd probably freak. It was hard not to just reach out and touch her. She was his, but he needed to hear her say it before he could do anything.  
  
He stepped back and shut the door, breathing rather hard. If he kept staring at her, he would lose his control. He had to go down and drink lots and lots of cold water, right away. Seein' Letty lying there had him feeling an unusual sensation that he had never really felt before, and he didn't like it. He didn't like losing control of his emotions.  
  
He was about to walk away when he heard the phone ring in his room. Who the hell calls this early in the morning?! He threw the door open and rushed to the phone, picking it up. He didn't want to wake Letty. Well that wasn't true, he wanted to wake her up more than anything, but he knew he shouldn't. She might still be mad at him. He barely registered the voice on the other end of the phone.  
  
'Dom? Hello? Hunny are you there?' Dom frowned as the bouncy voice called. What the hell?  
  
'Mai?' he asked disbelievingly. He heard a giggle and felt his skin crawl. What the hell was she doing calling his house? She knew he was convicted and shit. Why was she calling today? Dom felt a nervous squirm in the pit of his stomach as Letty's sleeping body rolled over, so that he could no longer see her face. Damn did he want to slam the phone down and just climb in with her! Damn he was fucked!  
  
'Hey handsome.' He heard Mailin squeal into the phone. 'I can't believe you're home!' She giggled and Dom felt a bit uneasy. Oh fuck fuck fuck!  
  
'Mai, how did you find out-'  
  
'Word leaked.' She said shortly, dismissively, 'Hunny you were gonna tell me right. You were gonna call me right when you got home.' She said in her sugary high tone. Dom cringed slightly and felt sort of trapped. Technically, he was still her 'boyfriend'. Did Dom mention that he was fucked?  
  
'Uh... Mai can we talk later? It's pretty early and I'm tired as all hell.' He lied as he saw Letty wiggle again. He was getting a little restless and he needed to get out of there pronto. He heard Mailin sigh.  
  
'I have a better idea!' she said brightly, 'How about, we meet at Holy Trinity tomorrow?' Dom frowned, rubbing his forehead, finally snapping back into their conversation at the mention of Letty's school.  
  
'Why Holy T?' he asked waiting for her to answer. 'Mai...?'  
  
'Well I have to go and get a ride from Johnny, and he transferred there after that Leticia chick.' She said carelessly. Dom felt his hands squeeze into fists at that little piece of information and felt his jaw clench. 'Come on. If you don't wanna meet there, how about at Dot's, that cozy little tea shop near Holy T? Around one thirty?' Dom shrugged. He just wanted to get off the fucking phone.  
  
'Fine, whatever.' He said in a low tone that rumbled out of his chest. He saw Letty shiver and fuck him if his boxers weren't feeling a little snug.  
  
'Okay hunny. I love you! Bye!' Dom was about to say goodbye when he heard dial tone. Oh well, no big loss, not like he wanted to talk to Mai. He actually never wanted to talk to her. She was much more for physical purposes, back when he **didn't** want to be with Letty. He dropped the phone and let out a sigh, walking over to the door and prompty slamming it shut, no longer concerned with Letty's peaceful sleeping.  
  
When Lett was sure he had gone down the stairs she rolled over and sat up. WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?! She hadn't heard much, only hearing Dom's end of the conversation, but what she HAD heard didn't make her happy. She was close to shaking with suppressed rage. Johnny must have told Mailin about Dom coming home. He couldn't take the 'competition' so he just decided to remove it with a little help from his sister. ARGH!!! What she wouldn't give to kill him! But at the moment, she knew she couldn't... Not when he knew...  
  
Dom's voice had sent a shiver over her and she thought for sure she was busted. Her eyes were stinging, screaming at her to just open her eyes and see him for the first time in two years, but her brain was telling her it would all pay off if she waited. She slid off the bed and slowly opened the door, hearing Mia squeal. Obviously she'd just tackled her brother because there was a low 'UMPH!' and a loud clunk! Letty smirked. Serves him right for consorting with trashy Tran.  
  
Letty walked down the stairs with heavy feet as Dom came into view, a huge grin on his face, as he held his sister arms length from him so that he could look at her properly. And Letty nearly fell down the remaining stairs. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO HIM! He was huge! Muscles on every part of him, tanned caramel muscles that flexed as he held Mia up. His head was bald as ever, but his face looked some how more mature, much sexier. He was even taller than before, and Letty felt her knees wobble slightly at his white smile. His eyes were as brown and soulful as ever, and Letty almost felt as though that was the only thing left of her old Dom...  
  
'Damn, where'd my little brat sister go?' he said in an even lower baritone voice. Letty shuddered as it rumbled low in his throat and she almost felt as though she could feel the vibrations. If she thought it was gonna be hard keeping her hands off of him before, now she was definitely being tortured.  
  
'Dom! Put me down!' She said, her voice giggly. Dom nodded and set her on her feet. Vince was smirking and Leon and Tori were sitting on the couch. Leon didn't look happy, but Tori had given the baby his bottle of booze and he was content enough.  
  
'Only one person missing.' Vince said, leaning against the wall. Letty gulped.  
  
'Think again.' She said in a strange voice, her hand gripping the banister for support. SNAP OUT OF IT, her brain screamed. YOU DON'T NEED ANYONE, REMEMBER?! She was supposed to be the tough chick. And even if Dom was deliciously handsome, she couldn't go to pieces over a little thing like that...  
  
Dom turned at the sound of her now gravelly low, seductive voice. His face was pulled into a small smirk and Letty smirked right back. Oh, so it was a power thing? Let's see who's in control, Dominic Torretto...  
  
'What? No hug?' Letty said, tilting her head slightly, wanting to tease him into submission. His grin widened, if that was possible and he walked forward in only two steps, so that Letty could really see just how tall he was. She was standing two stairs up and he was just barely taller than her still. He grinned as he slipped his hands around her full waist and pulled her to him in one easy tug. Letty in turn wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him back, holding him as tightly as she could, inhaling his scent.  
  
Boy did she miss this when he was gone.  
  
But all too soon he pulled back and Letty frowned. She saw him smile with a wink and she understood. He was teasing her back. She shook her head.  
  
'Fine. Now I want my present.' She said jokingly and he let out a small booming laugh.  
  
'Letty, I went to prison, not the Bahamas...' he said, his back still to everyone else. Letty shrugged, smirking and then stretched, letting out a genuine yawn. He frowned. 'You still tired? Ya shouldn'ta come down, if you're still-'  
  
'Dom shut up.' She said, her yawn dying away. Mia grinned.  
  
'We're all still tired Dom. Lett especially, after all that work yesterday.' She said getting up, still in her pink pajamas. She barely registered Vince leering at her. 'Maybe we should all go back up to bed. I bet you want to get reacquainted with your room...' she said winking at Letty. Letty grinned at her and nodded.  
  
'Yeah, dawg, I'm still pretty sleepy too. Maybe we better go take a nap.' Leon said getting up and leading Tori up the stairs, pushing Letty gently into the wall with a clunk. Letty in turn punched his arm and glared at him as he and Tor turned into the guest room and shut the door. She also didn't miss the way Dom flexed his huge arms when Leon had pushed her. If anyone else had done that she would've been pissed, like they were saying she couldn't handle shit herself. But how could she go off on Dom?  
  
'Yeah I'ma stay up and do some work out in the garage.' V said, finally taking his eyes off Mia and putting his tongue back in his mouth.  
  
'And I think I'll go have a snooze.' Mia said walking up the stairs past Letty, whispering 'Good Luck Girl'. Letty leaned against the wall. After everyone had vacated the ground floor, Dom finally returned his full attention to Letty.  
  
'Guess its just you and me papi.' She said in her seductive deep voice. Dom felt the back of his neck prickle at her words. He suddenly grabbed her and pulled her forward and Letty hitched a bleat. If they were playing the control game, she thought losing was well worth it!  
  
'Lett, you remember that day at the police station?' he said in a low husky voice. Letty nodded. 'And you remember what we promised?' Letty frowned trying to think back to that day so long ago. It was hard, thinking around Dom, especially when he was so close. 'I promised I'd never leave you.' He said finally, seeing her concentration breaking. And he pulled her closer, kissing her neck, rubbing little circles with his tongue. He finally broke away, though Letty wanted to protest. 'I'm keeping that promise mami.' He said, before grabbing her legs and hoisting her up, so that her head was lying on his now well-muscled chest. She looked up and flashed him a flirty smile, which drove Dom crazy.  
  
'Well as I remember it, I still owe you for that ride to the dance...' she said, drawing lines with her fingers across his face, trying to memorize every detail. He threw her a devilish smile, and if he hadn't been carrying her, she thought her knees might have buckled.  
  
'Well how about we talk about that over a massage?' he said, staring at her hungrily. She winked.  
  
'Fine by me.' She said as they neared his room. Her hands were just itching to be all over him. 'You know me and my skilled hands...' she said as he laid her down on his already messy bed. He walked over to the door.  
  
'Not really. But I'm hoping to get reintroduced...' he quietly as he shut the door.  
  
**************************************************************************** ******  
  
If I feel off tomorrow would you still love me?  
  
If I didn't smell so good would you still hug me?  
  
If I got locked up and sentenced to a quarter century,  
  
Could I count on you to be there to support me mentally?  
  
If I went back to a hoopty from a Benz,  
  
would you poof and disappear like some of my friends?  
  
If I was hit and I was hurt would you be by my side?  
  
If it was time to put in work would you be down to ride?  
  
I'd get out and peel a nigga cap and chill and drive  
  
I'm asking questions to find out how you feel inside  
  
If I ain't rap 'cause I flipped burgers at Burger King  
  
would you be ashamed to tell your friends you feelin' me?  
  
And in bed if I used to my tongue, would you like that?  
  
If I wrote you a love letter would you write back?  
  
Now we can have a lil' drink you know a nightcap  
  
And we could go do what you like, I know you like that  
  
Now would you leave me if you're father found out I was thuggin'?  
  
Do you believe me when I tell you, you the one I'm loving?  
  
Are you mad 'cause I'm asking you 21 questions?  
  
Are you my soulmate? 'Cause if so, girl you a blessing  
  
Do you trust me enough, to tell me your dreams?  
  
I'm staring at ya' trying to figure how you got in them jeans  
  
If I was down would you say things to make me smile?  
  
I treat you how you want to be treated just teach me how  
  
If I was with some other chick and someone happened to see?  
  
And when you asked me about it I said it wasn't me  
  
Would you believe me? Or up and leave me?  
  
How deep is our bond if that's all it takes for you to be gone?  
  
We only human girl we make mistakes, to make it up I do whatever it take  
  
I love you like a fat kid love cake  
  
You know my style I say anything to make you smile  
  
Girl...It's easy to love me now  
  
Would you love me if I was down and out?  
  
Would you still have love for me?  
  
Girl...It's easy to love me now  
  
Would you love me if I was down and out?  
  
Would you still have love for me?  
  
Girl... Could you love me in a bentley?  
  
Could you love me on a bus?  
  
I'll ask 21 questions, and they all about us  
  
Could you love me in the bedroom  
  
Could you love me on a bus?  
  
I'll ask 21 questions, and they all about us  
  
~*~ 21 Questions by 50 Cent ~*~  
  
**************************************************************************** *******  
  
Dom walked down the stairs around ten o'clock, wearing a pair of boxers and a black muscle shirt. He stretched at the bottom of the stairs, a huge grin on his face. He barely realized there was someone else up.  
  
'You're up!' Dom turned to the kitchen to see Mia lurched over a mug of what looked like very weak tea. He nodded and walked in, taking the seat beside her. 'I thought you'd be getting up later...'  
  
'Lett was exhausted. Barely got done givin her the massage when she was passed out.' He said, an air of a chuckle in his voice. Mia smiled, holding the mug up to her lips.  
  
'Guess her plan backfired.' She said sipping the tea gingerly. Dom raised an eyebrow, a smirk planted on his face.  
  
'plan?' he repeated, getting up and pouring himself a mug of coffee. Mia turned and nodded.  
  
'Yep. She worked her ass off, so that she'd be asleep when you came home and she'd look all sexy or whatever.' Mia said as Dom raised his mug to his face, apparently very smug. 'It backfired.' Dom made a disgusted face and looked down into his mug, thoughtfully.  
  
'I dunno. I mean, I probably wouldn't have...' Mia laughed out loud. He looked up.  
  
'Yeah right. How long was it before you realized she was asleep?'  
  
'When she didn't kiss me back?' he said with a smirk. 'This is coffee tastes like crap by the way.' Mia shrugged.  
  
'I'm not much of a cook. Vince says my tuna sandwiches are enough to choke a rhino. Says I should go on safari.' She said pulling a face. Dom let out a low laugh and poured the contents of his mug into the sink.  
  
Suddenly the back door swung open and, speak of the devil, Vince came tramping in, a girl right behind him. V turned and smiled at Dom.  
  
'Hey man, you up so early?' he said mildly interested. Dom shrugged. 'This is Erin.' V said presenting the girl beside him, who was short, had bleach blonde short razored hair. She wore a pair of very short red shorts and a tight black sweater. She nodded to him and Dom got the distinct impression that she was a shit disturber. Probably Letty and Torynn's new partner in crime.  
  
'Hey.' She said, and Dom felt like it was the first time a female had ever seemed so disinterested in him. Dom knew that every girl, no matter how cool they were with him now, had originally thought he was hot. Even Tori. So this was a change.  
  
'Where's Jesse?' Erin asked, looking to Mia. Vince coughed.  
  
'He's at the garage.' He said, clearing his throat. Erin nodded. 'You wanna go? I gotta a shit load of work to do anyway...'  
  
'But I got school...' she said with a pout on her face. V smiled and nodded.  
  
He was about to inquire what HE should do now, when Letty came running down the stairs, wearing a short plaid pleated skirt and high gray knee socks. Dom's mouth had fallen open a little, because she had her white shirt in her hands, so her chest was bare except for her bra. She threw it over her head and pulled it down quickly as Tori came flying down the stairs behind her, wearing jeans and one of Leon's jerseys.  
  
'Dammit Dom, why didn't you wake me up?' Letty said walking into the room and grabbing Mia's mug and taking a large gulp. She stuck out her tongue. 'This is why I never drink anything you give me.' She muttered grabbing one of her boots. Dom frowned.  
  
'Where are you going?' he asked in his deep baritone voice. He had hoped that he and Lett could spend the day together, catching up on shit and have a little 'quality time'. WITH the school girl uniform. Letty crammed her boots on and stood, grabbing her bag.  
  
'School dumbass.' She said slinging the bag over her shoulder, winking at him. He walked forward and took her hand, pulling her close, wiping her cocky smile off her face.  
  
'Well, couldn't you skip?' he asked looking down at her, his brown eyes drilling into hers. GOD DID LETTY WANNA SKIP! Letty opened her mouth a little but Dom let out a small 'ow' as Tori punched him in the arm.  
  
'Come on chica, I'm gonna be late for History class and as much as I want to, Angell is gonna kick my white ass.' She said giving Dom the oh-no-you- don't look. 'WE gotta bounce now!' Letty frowned, silently cursing her friend. Then she quirked an eyebrow.  
  
'I thought you loved History.' She said in her gravelly voice, not releasing Dom, who was basking in the feeling for as long as he could. Tori shook her head and rolled her eyes.  
  
'Remember that guy Deryck? Guy with the spiky hair and the cocky 'tude that I can't stand?' she said placing her hands on her hips. Letty tried to remember, but her memory wasn't what it used to be, especially when she was with Dom.  
  
'The guy who boosts cars? Your rival?' Mia cut in, walking into the hallway frowning. Tori nodded.  
  
'Yeah, that dick. Well, he's sitting next to me now! I just wanna strangle him everytime he talks about his steals!'  
  
'Wait wait wait, hold up!' Dom said shaking his head, his voice seeming shaking the room. 'You - boost cars?' he said his eyes portraying that he was a little skeptical. Tori nodded as Erin walked over beside her.  
  
'It's a long story - ' Erin began, about to get into full detail, when Tori smacked her over the head.  
  
'Which we don't have time for!' Letty cut in, her conscience finally kicking in. 'If I don't get to that fucking pansy ass school within the next ten minutes, they'll call and my social life will be kicked to shit.' She said pushing Dom away lightly and then continuing to push Tori and Erin toward the door. 'I'll see you later!' She yelled as she disappeared out the door.  
  
'Huh.' Dom said turning to look at Mia. That girl sure could be confusing. First she was leaving. Then she wanted to stay. Then she left. Yep, she was Letty. 'Why aren't you...' he said frowning at Mia. She smiled.  
  
'I get the morning off because later this afternoon I'm going on a fieldtrip.' She said as she walked toward the stairs. 'You can go to the garage. Letty won't be home till around three forty.' She said before disappearing upstairs. Dom frowned. The garage. His dad's garage.  
  
He heaved a deep sigh. He didn't know if he was ready to go back there. And, truth be told, he wasn't sure if he was ready to kick it with Letty either. There was this thing nagging at the back of his head that was telling him something was gonna happen, and not something good. He shook his head. That was stupid.  
  
Everything was gonna be fine. 


	16. How Good You Had It

Letty leaned against the locker and sighed. Damn Dom had her whipped, and he'd only been home one night. AND NOTHING HAD HAPPENED! I wonder if he thinks I'm easy or some shit like that? Letty thought, staring into space. She barely registered Erin waving her hand furiously in front of her face.  
  
'EARTH TO LETICIA GARCIA?!' she said in a loud voice. Tori lightly punched Erin in the arm and proceeded to talk to Jesse. She shook her head and heaved a huge sigh.  
  
'Between you're A.D.D. and Erin's tourettes, I don't see how ya have two brain cells to rub together!' she said as Letty scowled at Erin, who mouthed to Jesse 'what's tourettes?'.  
  
'So Letty, recapturing your night of ecstasy with Dom in that little mind of yours?' Erin said, grinning like a fool. That only made Letty's glare even fiercer.  
  
'For your fuckin information, Erin Margera, me and Dom didn't do anything last night! So get your mind outta the fuckin gutter!' with that she stalked off into her English classroom, leaving her three friends to stare after her, completely bewildered.  
  
'Well.' Erin said, looking as if she'd just been slapped. Jesse shrugged.  
  
'Come on, lunch is over, if we don't get our asses outta here we'll be late!' he said looking at his watch, which was upside down. Tori stifled a laugh and Erin grinned. 'What?!' Jesse inquired.  
  
'You. Caring about school.' Erin said crossing her arms as they walked toward the door. 'You gotta be shittin us...' He shook his head.  
  
'I shit you not.' Raising his hand in a solemn demeanor.  
  
'It's only cause that new girl Gabrielle is in your math class isn't it!' Tori said as they pushed the doors open and walked out of earshot of Letty. She sighed as she walked over to her seat at the back, next to some preppy girl Siran. Really, Letty hadn't meant to yell at Erin, or anyone for that matter. But that phone call that Dom had gotten was bugging her and making her irritable. She threw her books onto the desk and stared out the window as she watched her three friends walk toward her old school. She wondered what Dom was doing right now...  
  
'Letty.' She cringed. She looked up to be staring into Johnny Tran's dark cold eyes, a smile, or what Letty supposed was a smile, on his face. He sat down in the seat in front of her and continued to grin at her. Letty rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the window.  
  
'Only my friends call me Letty.' She said coldly, wishing the creep would go away. But Johnny just shrugged her comment off.  
  
'Hi Johnny!' Siran said brightly. Johnny nodded to her and then looked back to Letty, making Siran huff and turn back to her friend Sara. Letty wished Torynn or Jesse or Erin or Vince were there. Or better yet, Dom! And at the same time, she never wanted them to see each other again.  
  
'So I hear big bad Dominic Torretto is outta prison. How is he? Or how many has he?' Johnny said casually. That last comment made Letty's eyes snap to his and she wanted to lunge at him and knock the fucker off his feet.  
  
'What the hell is that supposed to mean Tran?' Letty said, balling her hands into fists. He smirked at her obvious sudden tensing and he played off of it.  
  
'Oh nothing. I suppose he told you he loved you. Wouldn't want to ruin that by telling you...' he trailed off, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. Letty's heartbeat got kicked up a notch. A) No Dom hadn't said those three little words. And Letty was glad. She wanted him to be ready, and she wanted to be ready. B) Telling her what?  
  
'Spit it out you miserable little -'  
  
'Now now, play nice Leticia!' he said smirking at her wince, when he said her name. 'Makes you feel dirty huh? When I call you Leticia... Leticia... Leti-'  
  
'Shut the fuck up Tran.' She said leaning forward, looking menacingly at him. 'You lost your respect that night, you keep it up, I'll remove a body part too-'  
  
'No, you listen, you don't order me around. You are my bitch, for the rest of your god damned life, because of what happened 'that night' so you can shut your little skank trap up or somebody gets a phone call...' he waved his cell phone in front of her, her eyes dancing on it before narrowing at his sneering face.  
  
'You wait Tran. You'll get what's fuckin coming to you.' She said before sliding back in her chair. The teacher suddenly walked in, forcing Johnny to turn around. He threw her one more cocky grin before turning. It took all the strength in her not to just dive at him and beat him until he pissed blood.  
  
Instead she satisfied herself with looking back out the window. Dominic... Dominic... Where are you right now?...  
  
Dom stood holding his large cup of steaming hot java, waiting for Mailin. He didn't know what possessed him to come see her. He should have just ignored the call, stayed home and worked on a car or something. But there was a part of him that wanted to see her, to show her how good he was doing, rub it in her face, that he was okay and that he didn't need her to feel that way. She'd always been so sure that without her, he'd be lost, like a little puppy. He was nobody's puppy.  
  
'DOMINIC!' Dom wheeled around to see a very skinny (practically anorexic looking) Asian girl running toward him. Her hair was short now, in an Audrey Hepburn sort of bob. It looked cute. She looked good.  
  
'Hey Mai.' He said in his deep voice that rumbled threw his throat. She seemed giddy as she clamped herself onto his arm, leading him into the coffee shop.  
  
'Oh Dommy, I missed you so much!' she said, her voice still bouncy as ever. She sat him down in one of the large armchairs in the very back, where no one could see them. He put his coffee down on the table near by and cleared his throat. They sat in silence for about thirty seconds, before Mailin threw herself on top of him, throwing him against the chair. She had her head in the nape of his neck, already kissing him, her left knee jerking against his inner thigh. 'Oh Dom, you're so god damned foxy...' she said in a lower voice. Dom's eyes almost rolled as she began running her hands down his chest. But suddenly he grabbed her shoulders and wrenched her away.  
  
'Mai...Mai hold on. I have to talk to you about something...' he said as she struggled to launch herself back at him. She pouted slightly.  
  
'But Dommy, can't we talk about that later? In bed?' she said, a huge grin spreading across his face. Dom shook his head.  
  
'The reason I came down here was to tell you that I'm seeing someone else.' He managed. That stopped her squirming. She stared at him, slightly wide eyed. Then she smiled again and shook her head.  
  
'Well dump her!' she said as if this was no big deal, her hair rippling as she tilted her head a bit. 'Come on Dommy, you know it's me you-'  
  
'I love her.' He said looking her straight in the eye. That again stopped Mai's smiling and her eyes grew a little bigger. But then she blinked and her confident air returned in a second. She trailed one well-groomed finger down the opening of his flannel shirt.  
  
'So you want to have two women?' she said in her seductive voice, making Dom squeeze the arms of the chair. 'That's a little kinky Dom... as long as you say I'm the one who satisfies you better, I guess I can-'  
  
'No... no Mai you're not listening to me...' he shook her gently to emphasize his point before pushing her onto the chair next to him. 'I LOVE her. I just want her. That's it.' He said, finishing with a rumbling sigh. Mailin sat there, her mouth a tiny bit open, looking as if she'd been punched. Then her eyes narrowed and she lept onto him, pushing her hands up his scalp.  
  
'No, no one dumps me. I am the goddess of sex! This chick, have you even slept with her yet?' she asked incredulously, massaging his neck. 'Can you honestly say she'd better than me?' she said, her sexy tone returning. Dom grabbed her hands and pulled the away.  
  
'It's not always about sex.' He said looking at her meaningfully. She actually laughed. Which irritated Dom.  
  
'Uh uh. I think you should think about this Dom. Call me in a day or two, I'm sure you'll change your mind and then we can-'  
  
'No! No calling! No visits! No nothing! Mailin, I'd be friends with you, if you had a personality, but since you're lacking one, it'd be pointless. Now listen. I love Letty!' he said loudly, standing and pushing Mai back a bit, suddenly repulsed by the idea of being attracted to her. She just looked shocked. 'And that's that. I'm not coming back.'  
  
'Letty? The girl my brother fucked?!' Mailin asked, her hand at the base of her neck. Dom froze. Letty what? Mailin shook her head. Then she saw that Dom was thinking and smiled a bit. 'You're leaving me for her when she fucked-'  
  
'She didn't.' he rumbled, but not meeting her icy stare. She grinned even more, taking any cheap shots she could get in.  
  
'No! You're leaving ME for some hussy who fucked my brother!! That hurts Dom!' She yelled as she backed out into the well-populated coffee shop. 'You'll regret pissing me off Dom! You never knew how good you had it!' She screamed before crashing into someone and knocking their mug over and stomping out of the there. Leaving Dom to stand, staring at nothing.  
  
Letty fucked Johnny Tran. That was impossible. She'd never do that, she knew it would hurt him.  
  
It couldn't be true. 


	17. Missing You

Okay, I realized I haven't posted in awhile... again, probably toture for you all (muahahaha) but you know, I had a lot to do... I have a life ya kno... I SWEAR! But anyway, here's the next chapter, review... and review with detail! None of this crap! I want you to tell me what parts you liked, what you didn't like, who you think is going to rape who! I WANNA KNO! HAHA! Anyway, go on, read, and REVIEW!  
  
Love ya'll, ~*~ Stokes ~*~  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
'Letty you whore!' Letty whipped around, her eyes wide, as Torynn leaned against the locker in front of her. 'You didn't call me after school!' Letty sighed. She didn't know.  
  
'Sorry girl, had things distractin me.' She said as she threw her books to the back of her locker.  
  
'Well undistract ya self cause we got racin tonight!' she said, a grin spreading across her face. Letty looked up and for once in this entire fucked up day, she was actually excited to see Dom. Something had been nagging at the back of her head; something telling her seeing Dom was going to suck. But she couldn't believe that. He wanted her as much as she wanted him and what could possibly go wrong? Racing and Dom. The perfect combo. This was definitely going to be a hell of a night!  
  
'Who's in?' Letty asked as she slung her bag over her arm, slamming her locker closed and locking it. Torynn crossed her arms and shook her head.  
  
'Nothin's confirmed. But from what I hear, Donavon, Cresswick, Tran and ... ugh ... Deryck.' She shuddered after saying Deryck's name. Letty smirked.  
  
'I think you like him girl.' She said as they walked toward the front doors. Tori made a face.  
  
'If Cresswick, me and Deryck were the last people on earth, I'd try repopulating with Cress.'  
  
'Tor, Cress is a girl.'  
  
'And THAT is how much I despise him.' She said as they walked toward Tori's new car. It was a sweet ride, was blue with two white stripes down the middle.  
  
'An Audi Coupe TT 180? How much you sellin this baby for?' Letty asked running a tender finger down the side. Tori shook her head.  
  
'Not for sale chica. This baby is mine!' she said as they slid into the seats. Letty frowned.  
  
'You're gonna get busted if you keep a boosted car Diego. You wanna end up in the slammer like Dom did?'  
  
'Don't get yourself worked up Garcia! I didn't boost this sucker! Dad bought it for me.' She said as the engine began to purr.  
  
'Tor, this car costs $29, 000! Your dad would never buy this for yoU!'  
  
'Okay! Okay! It was a gift from someone! And no, I'm not tellin your latino ass who!' Letty made a fake pout at this comment. 'Now, on to a bigger question. You sleepin at Torretto's or my house?' Letty frowned and shook her head, as the wind whistled past them.  
  
'Um, what's wrong with Carla and Herb's?' she asked as they raced down along the beach. Tori grinned as they made a quick turn and began weaving threw the lanes.  
  
'Because Carla called my papi and said that they're goin for a marriage counseling conferece or some shit like that. SO is it Torretto's or Diego's?' she asked glimpsing Letty occasionally. Letty broke into a huge smile and Tori laughed. 'Good cause I wanna stay with Lee... he wants to talk to me tonight anyway.' She said as they pulled up the street that led to the Torretto house. All Letty did was sit back and smile, thinking of how she'd get another chance to see if Dom wanted her.  
  
'V is bringing Dom to the races tonight. You think he'll get into it?' Letty's insides froze and felt like they were going to disappear completely. She frowned as something dawned on her face. She felt as if this was a nightmare gone wrong!  
  
'Dom's goin to the races?'  
  
'Uh huh! Damn, I hope he does get into it, we'd make a killin. You okay girl?' Tori asked as she glanced at Letty, who had turned a bit pale. 'What?'  
  
'Tran's gonna be there.' She said in a small voice as she sat back. She felt like she might hyperventilate. Torynn nodded.  
  
'So...?'  
  
'Dom's not gonna be happy...' Letty said leaning back to keep from retching in the car. Torynn was getting worried.  
  
'You want me to pull over? Letty?' she asked as they reeled off to the side of the road. Once they were over as far as they could, Letty threw the door open and ran over to the grass, where she fell on all fours, ready to hurl. Tori ran over to her. 'Letty what the fuck is going on?'  
  
Letty turned over and sat, her legs bent in front of her, her hands on her head. Tori dropped down next to her, looking very worried.  
  
'What the fuck is going on?'  
  
'Nothing, okay?' Letty said in a raspy, shaky voice as she leaned her head on her knees. Tori shook her head.  
  
'This is not nothing. This has to do with Tran doesn't it?' Letty looked up, as if to ask how she knew. Tori shrugged. 'When your best friend winces every time the guy is mentioned, you kinda notice. Now what happened?' Letty looked down. 'We aren't going anywhere till you tell me.' Letty heaved a sigh and looked up.  
  
'Only Mia knows.' She said in a low, shamed voice, not believing she was about to tell another living soul her worst secret. 'Do you remember that night when Dom told me we couldn't be together. Because of Mailin?' she said, her voice quivering when she said Mailin's name. Tori merely nodded. Letty took a deep breath. 'I was so hurt so I found some of the schnops that you and Nikki brought with you, for V. I... Johnny found me and we talked. He told me I shouldn't let Dom be such an ass to me. And I thought I could...' she shook her head. Tori put her hand on Letty's back.  
  
'Lett. You didn't... sleep with Johnny did you?' she asked, her voice quiet. Letty looked ready to scream and cry at the same time. She shook a bit, from anger or sadness, Torynn couldn't tell. 'Lett?'  
  
'I didn't sleep with him. But I did stuff...' she said putting a hand to her forehead. 'You know, foreplay and shit like that... I felt so gross afterwards, after Tony found me, after I ran from him...'  
  
'Why?'  
  
'Because I called him Dom.' She said closing her arms around herself, feeling so open and vulnerable. 'Cause I never wanted Johnny, I wanted Dom, and I couldn't stand it not being him that first time and I felt so...'  
  
'Okay, it's okay.' Torynn said patting her friend's shaking back. 'What's wrong though? Why are you on the side of the road looking like you wanna throw up?'  
  
'I didn't want Dom, or anyone to know. So Johnny said if I ever did anything that he didn't like, he'd tell him. I can't let them see each other. Dom'll kill Johnny and then I'll lose him again.' She said as Tori pulled her into a hug.  
  
'Tell Dom. He'll understand.'  
  
'No, he won't. He hates Johnny, ever since that dance. It'll kill him if he finds out.' Letty said, pulling on Tori's arm. 'I can't tell him. I can't.'  
  
'But Lett, if you don't tell him, someone else will. I think he should hear it from you.' She said, as she pulled away, pushing one of Lett's fallen hairs to the side of her face. 'You stopped before anything REALLY bad happened. And you stopped because of him. Because you love him. He'll understand that.' She said giving Lett a reassuring smile. 'Come on. You can tell him when we get home.'  
  
'No.' Letty said as Tori got up. Tori frowned and Letty heaved a sigh. 'No, I wanna wait until after the races. I'll tell him then.' She said as she got up and followed Torynn to her car. She'd tell him then. Then she'd know if he really loved her.  
  
**************************************************************************** *****  
  
Dom sat at the kitchen table, the red mug in front of him sitting untouched. He kept thinking about Letty and what Mailin had said. Had she really fucked that little dick? And why hadn't she told him? Well he knew why, he thought bitterly, she wants to see if she can pull this stunt on me and get away with it. He rubbed his hand over his face. Great, now he was thinking the worst of Letty. How could they be together if he couldn't trust her? Besides, Mailin was jealous, probably made the whole thing up, Dom reassured himself.  
  
'Dom?' Leon asked as he walked in, wiping his greasy hands on his white shirt. Dom didn't even acknowledge the guy as he walked toward the fridge. 'We outta beers?' he asked looking over at Dom. He nodded and Leon slammed the fridge door. 'Does everythin bout this day gotta suck so damn much?!' he yelled, not asking anyone in particular. Dom raised an eyebrow.  
  
'What's wrong with your life?' he grumbled finally taking a sip of his coffee. Leon let out a deep sigh and sat down at the table with him.  
  
'Well, the car out in the lot, the Diablo, is fuckin toasted and I dunno how I'm gonna get it back runnin again. Then my Ma calls the house, telling me I gotta come visit her, and she wants to meet my girlfriend.' Dom nodded at this, as Leon cupped his face in his hands. 'But I dunno if me and Tor are together anymore.' He said massaging his scalp.  
  
'Oh yeah?' Dom asked, mildly interested. At least this was taking his mind of a Letty. 'Why's that?' Leon shrugged.  
  
'Some secret admirer fucker gave her a car. A FUCKIN CAR MAN! How can I compete with that kinda shit.' He said leaning against the table. Dom frowned.  
  
'If she loves you Leon, it doesn't matter if some fuck gave her a million bucks. She wouldn't just leave without a reason.' Leon frowned and was about to speak. 'Hey. I know this girl. She's one of those hopeless romantic types and money doesn't mean a whole damn much to her. You just gotta be good to her and the good times'll roll.' Dom sipped his coffee again and Leon grumbled under his breath.  
  
'And we're outta fuckin Corona.' He said pitifully as he stood up and ambled over to the back door, pushing it open and walking back outside. Dom gave a heavy deep sigh. Then he heard the front door swing open and the clunk of two heavy bags.  
  
'We're home!' he heard Tori yell as she walked into the kitchen, throwing her jacket onto the counter. She smiled at him, and he gave a weak smile back. 'Hey Dom. You seen Leon?' she asked as she threw the keys to what Dom supposed was her new car, onto the table. He nodded to the door and she turned and walked out into the yard. He heard a squeal and looked threw the window, as Leon spun her around.  
  
'Hey Dom.' He turned at the sound of his name in such a low seductive voice. It sent little chills up his broad shoulders and left a tingling feeling in his stomach. Letty was standing at the kitchen door, wearing her school uniform, looking bit sick and tired. He walked over to her and bent down to kiss her cheeks.  
  
Letty was surprised at the tenderness of his touch. He'd only kissed her a few times, when they were at the dance two long years ago, at the police station, last night. They had all been torrid and passionate and urgent and yet here he was giving her small butterfly kisses all over her face. It made her heart, always so cold and unforgiving, melt. She finally slung her arms lazily over his shoulders and met his mouth with hers, giving him a meaningful kiss, before pulling back, to look into his deep brown eyes. She smiled.  
  
'What's this for?' she asked as he returned her smile. He shrugged happily. Letty would never fuck Tran. Seeing her smile and holding her and kissing her. It just made him sure she would never hurt him. He gripped her tighter before hoisting her up, her legs wrapping around his torso and her arms remaining around his neck.  
  
'I missed you baby.' He said softly as he slowly walked into the living room. Her smile softened, as did the rest of her face, and for a moment, Dom thought she had tears in her eyes. He laid her down on the couch and crawled on top of her, looking down at her beautiful face.  
  
'I missed you too Dom.' She said, her voice full of caring and love. Dom felt his whole body go rigid at her words. They filled him with this inexplicable possessiveness. She was finally his. He leant down, kissing her chin and then he lower lip and then covering her soft full lips with his. She brought her hands up to his shaven head and pulled him deeper, her tongue tracing his upper lip. His right hand was rubbing her side soothingly, while his left hand was tangled in her hair, as he kissed her back, loving the way she kissed him.  
  
It was like no other kiss he'd ever been given. And he'd been given quite a few. It was tender yet passionate, gentle but rough, it was all Letty. And she tasted better than anything he'd ever had, better than champagne and strawberries, or milkshakes and chocolate. She was amazing and she was finally his.  
  
Letty finally pulled away, both of them slightly short of breath and almost gasping for it, staring at each other as if nothing else in the world existed. She smiled and brought his head down so that he was lying on top of her, his head on her chest, her legs still wrapped around him. 'Just lie down for a second.' She said noticing he was trying to get up. He finally pulled away, seeing her frowning at him. He then wrapped an arm around her shoulders and the back of her knees and lifted her up. He then proceeded to sit and lie down, holding her on top of him. She smiled up into his loving eyes, before dropping her head to his chest, her hand of his heart.  
  
And that is how they fell asleep. 


	18. Confrontations and Confessions

'DOM HURRY UP! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE!' Vince yelled up the stairs as he, Mia, Letty and Leon waited in the living room. V turned around, ready to pull out his hair, it seemed. 'Damn, if it's not you chicks, it's Dom!' he said under his breath, but loud enough so Mia could justify punching him in the arm.  
  
Finally Dom came down the stairs and Letty felt a dull ache in the hollow of her stomach. He looked amazing. So handsome. He was wearing a black muscle shirt and a black pair of pants. He had a deep blue collared shirt in his hand, as if ready to put it on. But Letty took it from him. He looked up at her and frowned. She shook her head.  
  
'You don't need it.' She said simply, running her small, callused hands over his firm, rippling chest. He closed his eyes and she thought she could hear a small groan escape him, as her hands dragged down to his lower abdomen.  
  
'Fuck, great, now we gotta break the lovers apart.' V said as Mia and Leon headed out the door. Letty laughed at him before taking Dom's hand and leading him out the door, though he pleaded with her to stay there.  
  
'No way, big man.' She said teasingly, 'We gotta make some money off yo ass!' she said as they walked down the front steps. Suddenly Letty stopped. Dom stopped too and looked at her, questioningly. She smiled mischievously before curling her finger and beconing him to follow her. He did, toward the driveway, a gray sheet covering his dad's old car. He stopped suddenly. She looked back at him as she grabbed the sheet.  
  
'I can't Lett.' He said in hoarse voice. She smiled a sad smile.  
  
'Do you trust me?' she asked, and Dom frowned. Of course he did. But that had nothing to do with his Dad's Charger. With his dad's death.  
  
'You know I do, Letty but - ' before he could say another word, Letty pulled the gray cover away and Dom felt his heart almost explode. There, in the drive, sat a fire red Mazda Miata. Dom just stood there as Letty grinned at him. 'Letty - ' he choked out.  
  
'Your baby, Dom.' She said placing a gentle hand on the hood of the car. He finally found the strength to walk forward and place his own hand on it. He stared at it, as if it weren't real.  
  
'How..?' He managed to say as he continued to walk around the car that was now allegedly his. Letty shrugged but kept grinning at the awe in Dom's eyes.  
  
'We all pitched in... Thanks to Carla, we made payment.. And then we supped it up for you, put big ass ghetto blaster in, and NOS installments...' she said reeling off everything they'd put in the car. Dom simply turned, not really hearing what she was saying. Letty and the team had bought him a car. Letty continued talking as she touched it with gentleness and caring. Dom couldn't take anymore.  
  
He swooped down on her and snaked his hand around her neck and waist, planting his lips on hers. She obviously hadn't been expecting it, but her eyes quickly closed as she closed her arms around him. She'd never turn down Dom's kiss.  
  
He finally broke away, breathing raggedly and looking deep into her chocolate eyes. 'You didn't have to - ' he said still in shock of the new car. She smiled at him and rubbed her hands up the sides of his head.  
  
'You deserve more.' She said. They stared at each other a few moments longer, before Dom felt something small and cold being placed in his hand. It was the key. 'Come on.' Letty said walking over to the passenger door. 'We're gonna be late.' Dom shrugged and smiled. The way things were going, it looked like it would be his lucky night.  
  
**************************************************************************** ***  
  
Letty sat on top of the hood of Leon's car, her arms crossed, a scowl on her face. She had been sent to Leon after she knocked some racer skank on her ass, and Vince had told her to go cool off by Leon. She fought with him, yelled at him, in the end Leon had to actually carry her off. It was not pretty. She was especially pissed because Dom had given her the look that said cool it.  
  
COOL IT?! Her mind screamed. She'd just gotten him a car, was now, sorta, his girlfriend and when that racin hoe was patting his chest, as he oozed masculinity in front of her. Letty was beyond pissed. And Dom was mad at HER? For those few minutes before Letty lost it, it seemed like the old Dom was back. The flirty, conceited, dick that she found so disgusting.  
  
So she was banished to Leon's little corner as everyone cheered on the racers. Hector had two announcements, that there was a party at his place after the race and Cresswick turned out to be sick that night, so Dom got in. He was racing Tran, Donavon and Deryck. Letty didn't really NEED to watch to know who was gonna kick ass.  
  
She stared up at the sky, wondering what she was going to say to him that night, when she would tell him the truth about Johnny and her. She wondered if he'd yell, if he'd cry, if he'd leave. There were so many possibilities, so many bad outcomes; Letty could barely keep her dinner down.  
  
Finally the crowd exploded and Letty knew it was over. She glared even harder at the pavement. Now Dom would be getting out of his car, and like a magnet, all the whores will attach themselves onto his arm. Letty felt like spitting. He was her man. Wasn't he?  
  
Finally Letty got up and walked toward the crowd swarming Dom's car. She saw over the heads as Hector handed Dom the money. The two exchanged a quick banter before Dom handed the money to Mia and started talking to Vince. And just as Letty had suspected, there were two skanks waiting to latch onto Dom, once he was finished with V. Letty felt her anger flare up again. Who the fuck did he think he was, she thought angrily as she turned on her heel and began to walk away. But suddenly someone grabbed her elbow and twisted her around.  
  
'Johnny?' she said a little taken aback by his sneering face. Then she covered her surprise with a fresh glare, as she ripped her arm from his grasp. 'What do you want, Tran?' she said, her voice dripping with disdain. His grin widened.  
  
'What's going on here?' Letty turned to see Dom, his arms flexing as though he were itching to find a reason to deck Johnny. He turned his eyes to her. 'Letty?' he asked. Letty opened her mouth, not knowing how to tell him, especially with everyone watching.  
  
'We were discussing you, Dominic.' Tran said coolly, still smiling, which amazed Letty. He knew Dom could beat the crap outta him. Even if he were big and muscular, Dom was still packing some serious rage against him. Dom's eyebrow rose.  
  
'Were you?' he asked, his voice low as he crossed his arms over his chest. Finally Letty found her voice.  
  
'Yeah, you wouldn't be interested in what we were saying though - '  
  
'Enlighten me.' Silence. All three stood in a triangle. Dom was glaring viciously at the two others, Letty was looking pleadingly at Dom and Tran just smirked. For him this was entertaining. 'Well?' Dom boomed, making quite a few women jump. 'What about me?' He repeated. Letty felt her chest grow tight and almost like she couldn't breathe.  
  
'We were discussing a business deal.' Johnny said. Both Letty and Dom's eyes snapped to him. Johnny shrugged. 'I wanted her opinion on whether you were up to it or not.' He said casually. Dom glanced at Letty, who was trying to look as if this wasn't new to her. He then looked back at Johnny.  
  
'What kinda deal, Tran?' he asked walking so that he could stand next to Letty. She felt as though she should let out a sigh of relief. Johnny continued to smirk.  
  
'Just want someone to put in some spoon engines for me. I don't have the time and rumor is, Torretto's is the best.' He said matter-of-factly. 'I'll come by tomorrow to talk more about it.' Without another word he turned around and motioned for his crew to follow. They all walked away and left the crowd to disperse at leisure. For once in the history of their scene, cops hadn't been called, and they all went home with no problem.  
  
Letty and Dom sat in silence as they followed V's car to Hector's. As they pulled up to th curb, Dom took the key out of the ignition and sat back in the beige leather seating. He managed to bring his eyes up to look at Letty. She was sitting still, her arms crossed, scowling out her window. He let out a heavy sigh.  
  
'Lett, I'm sorry.' He said, waiting for her to acknowledge his apology. 'Well?' he finally asked. She turned her head to him.  
  
'Well what Dom?' she asked in an icy voice. 'You expect me to forgive you? You know what, I bet you don't even know what you're apologizing for!' she said raising her voice slightly and turning all the way around to face him.  
  
'I know I shouldn'ta thought you and Johnny were up to something, but Mai told me you two fucked and all I could think about was you and him and...' he looked at Lett who had her mouth open a tiny bit. 'Lett?' he asked, seeing her look of shock.  
  
'I meant the skanks, but you're right.' She said turning in the seat. 'Your reason is better.' She said before throwing the door open and getting out. Dom frowned.  
  
'Lett come on! You know I want you! Only you!' he said. She hunched down to face him.  
  
'Yeah? Tell that to the whores who run their hands all over you! For the first fuckin time, Dom, since I fell in love with you, I think I really hate you!' she shouted before slamming the door and walking quickly toward Hector's. She kept walking, just had to get away from him and his fuckin retardedness. But as she was nearing Hec's she heard running footsteps behind her. 'Go away Dom!' she said not turning around.  
  
'Lett... Lett PLEASE!' he said before taking her and turning her around and then pinning her to the blue car beside them. He hunched over her, and again, Letty felt the pit of her stomach turn to goo. She looked up into his eyes as he searched hers and felt all her anger ebb away. 'Is that true?' he said in a low, husky voice. Letty swallowed.  
  
'What? That I hate you?' she asked, her mouth feeling dry all of a sudden, as Dom frowned. He shook his head.  
  
'That you're in love with me?' Letty frowned and then realized what she'd said to him. She said she'd fallen in love with him. Oh shit... She took a deep breath.  
  
'Dom, I - I can't really say I - '  
  
'That truth Letty!' He said, bending down so that he was level with her. She felt her breath hitch. He blinked and his face instantly softened. 'Do you love me?' Letty tried to speak but the words wouldn't come out. How could she answer him?  
  
'Leticia Garcia, do you, or don't you love me?' he said desperately. She looked down, then back into his eyes.  
  
'I always have.' She said in a rasping voice. She was finding it very hard to force the words out, without choking herself. But after saying it, she felt her throat untightened. 'I love you Dom.' She said again, a little stronger, so that he really knew. She looked at him a moment, afraid that he would let her go and leave. But he stood there. And then he smiled before leaning down and kissing her cheek, working up her jaw line, to her left ear.  
  
'I love you too.' He said quietly, feeling her stiffen at his words. He released her arms and leaned back to look at her face and cup it in his huge hands. 'I love you so much.' He said to confirm it to her. She shook slightly as her breath escaped her. She sniffled and smiled.  
  
'You mean it?' she said teasingly, though she felt like jokes held nothing at that moment. He nodded and leaned his forehead against hers.  
  
'I do.' He said taking her hand in his. He began to walk back to his car, when Letty pulled him back. She smiled at him and shook her head.  
  
'Hector's is that way.' She said motioning toward the green house with the music blaring. Dom closed the distance between them and leant down.  
  
'I know.' He said before pulling her toward his car again. And then she understood. And she smiled. He was finally hers. 


	19. No More Looking Back

Letty woke early that morning and rolled over to see Dom's sleeping figure, rolled toward her, his well muscled arm slung over her bare stomach. She smiled as she gently pushed it aside, standing up and looking in the mirror across the room. Last night they had made love, for the first time, for her first time. It was slow, deep, drawing out every possible pleasure there could be possible, letting it spread all through her body giving her a warm filled feeling. Only Dom could do that to her.  
  
She knew Johnny would be a problem. Hell he was the biggest pain in the ass there was. He would always be causing trouble with Dominic, because Dom was blessed. He always had everything pulled to him, everything that he could possibly want. He was blessed with so much love. Something Johnny didn't have, and couldn't understand.  
  
She knew Mailin would be a problem. Many of the racer skanks would be, but Letty was ready to beat them off with a huge stick if she had to. Because now that Dom had finally claimed her, told her he loved her, made love to her, there was no way in hell she could ever let go of him.  
  
She knew Herb wouldn't be a problem. Her eighteenth birthday was today. Today Carla was getting a divorce. Today Carla would be free and in turn she promised Letty freedom. She told Letty the night before that Letty was free to live with Dom, and call on Carla whenever she needed her.  
  
So finally Dom was hers, and she was Dom's. They were living together. Working together. Loving each other. Last night they promised that no matter what had happened, no matter how shitty things had been in the past, they wouldn't look back. This was their happy ending.  
  
Or their new beginning. 


End file.
